


Cradled By The Shadow

by EsriteIatha



Series: Shadow [2]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Denial, Drunk Team, Grief/Mourning, Han and Mara friendship, Leia needs a hug, Trouble Finds a Way, Two Corellians in one ship, Wedge is not happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:53:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9308291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsriteIatha/pseuds/EsriteIatha
Summary: A month after the events of Shadow Of Coruscant the capital planet prepares for Luke Skywalker's funeral. In the darkest hour Han Solo gets a message from Dr. Sypet Lakrys and with the help of Chewbacca, Mara Jade and Wedge Antilles he chases after the last tiny hope. Of course, he is Han Solo and trouble always finds a way and Mara has a terrible luck too. At least Wedge should have some good karma on his side...





	1. ONE

Han pulled the card-key through the scanner. The door opened for him silently. He walked into the dark apartment slowly. He inspected every little surface with his eyes, as if it was the first time he saw the place. He touched little objects here and there recalling old and new memories with a fond smile. He sank down onto the couch in the living-room. He had spent several long nights on that furniture. On nights when the darkness had seemed to be too much, he had sought out the brightest light in the galaxy.

The presence of his brother-in-law.

Luke had been always up when he had come. The young Jedi had grinned widely at him, had accepted the offered Corellian ale and invited him in. They had talked and drunk a lot. He had usually passed out on that couch and had woken in the morning finding a comfortable blanket draped over him and big glass of water on the caf-table.

This time though there was no bright smile, no comfort for him. His casual Corellian clothes were swapped for a black military uniform. His wife wasn’t sleeping peacefully in their bed, but was braiding her long brown hair with that lost look on her face. Their son wasn’t fussing in his crib, but was still on Kashyyyk, so he would be shielded from the negative emotions of their damaged family. At least Chewie was back,, but that moment he was mourning on his own way somewhere.

_Luke Skywalker’s funeral was starting in two standard hours._

Han leaned forward and buried his face into his hands. That was not supposed to happen. Everything was so wrong. But he still couldn’t cry.

***

Wedge Antilles stormed out of the lift on the floor 290. He didn’t stop still he reached the Solo apartment and slammed his hand onto the doorbell. The door opened and Leia’s golden protocol droid appeared in front of him.

“Oh, Commander Antilles! What a pleasant surprise!” he started, but Wedge cut him off angrily.

“Where is Solo? I want to speak with him, now!” he was not shouting, yet.

Threepio was taken aback by his rude approach, but answered nonetheless. “I’m afraid Master Solo isn’t home. He went to visit… Master Luke’s apartment.”

Wedge didn’t miss the hesitation before he said Luke’s name and it angered him even more. He spun around and approached the opposite apartment. He repeated his previous actions with the doorbell as he heard Threepio’s ‘Oh, my!’ and retreat. This door opened a lot later than the previously and he was already raising his knuckle to bang on that offending barrier. However, it did open and there was Solo himself. Wedge didn’t hesitate and pushed the older man into the apartment.

“What the kriffing hell is this Solo!” he shouted this time.

“Wedge? What?” Han staggered back and blinked at him confused.

“What is this?” Wedge pointed at the uniform, then at the window. “and that?”

Solo looked tired, scratch that, he looked exhausted. “You do know what happened, right?” he asked. Wedge snarled at his friend, his brown eyes blazing.

“Oh, I know what happened! What I can’t comprehend is what are you doing here? What does all those morons do parading in all black? You should be out and combing through the galaxy for him, not giving up like that!” Wedge’s corellian temper was in overdrive. He was sure that the whole building could hear him. Good!

“Wedge…” Han rubbed his face. “It had been a month and…”

“He chased you around for six months! Six months! Damn you!”

Han looked like he was slapped across the face. His already light skin turned even paler under his dark stubble. He turned away from the other man and started pacing. “This is completely different. The explosion…”

“Don’t give me that! We are talking about Luke! You remember him? The guy who walked into the room with Vader AND Palpatine and walked out as the only survivor! And aren’t you the one, who doesn’t care about the odds?”

Han threw his arms out to the sides clearly frustrated. Good! Frustration was better than apathy. “They announced him dead.”

“Again, why do you care?” Wedge stopped shouting, but his tone was still intense.

“Leia…”

“This is her twin brother. She doesn’t think straight. It should be you, who thinks clearly.”

“What do you want me to do? What?” This time Han was the one shouting.

“I want you not to give up, yet. I know Luke and I can’t even imagine that this could end him. He won’t go like that!”

Han sank down onto the couch and raised tired eyes at him. “I don’t know what else to do. Where to look? I’m not a Force-sensitive, I can’t do impossible things. Leia is so sure that we had lost him for good. She says she can’t feel him anymore.”

“I’m not ready to give up,” Wedge stated.

Han couldn’t reply to that.

***

Talon Karrde knocked on the hotel-room’s door and waited patiently. Few minutes later Mara answered and invited him in with a wave of her hand. She was still in her jumpsuit and her hair braided tightly. The room was dark and datapads and datacards were thrown all around. Mara stopped in the middle and regarded him expectantly.

“The funeral starts in an hour.” Karrde stated.

Something flickered across her face, but it was way too fast for him to catch. “It’s not a funeral, just a memorial ceremony. We don’t have a body after all. And I’m not going.”

She turned away and started rearranging datacards on the caf-table.

“Why?” he asked calmly.

She huffed and leveled her intense eyes back at him. “First of all, I’m not welcome, Leia still doesn’t want anything to do with me. Second this is stupid! They are just making another political move about this. We still don’t know if he really is dead and…” she trailed off. Her gaze slipped away from him and she stared at the wall. “Luke would hate this fuss.” she finished softly.

Talon regarded her thoughtfully. He wanted to help, but he didn’t know how to do it. When she had commed him a month earlier, he had hurried to Coruscant and personally oversaw the search, while Aves had led a group of the crew in a Galaxy wide search. However, two days ago the senate had announced todays memorial ceremony. He had been with Mara when it had happened. She had watched it with unreadable eyes and hadn’t said a thing about it.

“Leia has given up.” She spoke quietly again. He nodded. Yes, he had talked with Mrs. Solo and knew her opinion. It had been her and Mon Mothma’s decision to have the ceremony. Everyone else had nodded in resignation, except Mara, but her reputation as the Emperor’s Hand hadn’t left any ground for her to argue on.

“You sure you won’t come?” he asked finally.

She shook her head and sat back down to her datapads.

***

Han stood next to Leia on one side and Chewie on the other side during the ceremony. They were all standing on a podium facing the crowd that gathered. Mon Monthma’s speech was long, but emotional. She spoke highly of Luke. However, all Han could think about was you didn’t know him that well. Or he would hate all this. Luke never liked being in the spotlight. Even after Endor he had gone an extralenght to avoid being praised in public. He looked around slowly. He saw Karrde , but there was no sign of Mara. Wedge did come though. He stood on the right end of the podium. His face was unreadable for those who didn’t know him well, but Han knew that expression, it was disapproval.

The ceremony went on. Coruscant’s official orchestra played The Requiem from the Old Republic area. It was beautiful, but this time it sounded so wrong. Before the start of the ceremony lanterns were handed out. When the song ended, Threepio stepped forward and gave one to Leia. This one was different than the others, bigger, more beautiful. She stepped forward and closed her eyes and murmured softly. It was probably a prayer. When she finished, she let go of the lantern and it floated up towards the sky. The crowd copied her and in a second thousands of lanterns were slowly ascending up in the Coruscantian night. Han let go of his lantern too. He watched it floating towards the sky.

_Hey, kid. I could really use a sign here._

Nothing happened. His lantern joined the others and the ceremony ended.

***

When they returned home, Leia disappeared in their apartment, but he couldn’t follow her. He approached the serving droid in the bar of their floor and asked for whisky. When he got it, he looked around and his eyes fell upon the couch where he had found Luke sleeping not so long ago. He approached it and sat down slowly. He sipped his drink enjoying the burning sensation it made in his throat. Luke didn’t like whisky. He did love hot chocolate though. He couldn’t help, but smile at that. Other memories came up one by one. Little things about their friendship that was stronger than any other. He leaned back against the backrest and closed his eyes.

He was so tired.

His commlink started beeping. He considered ignoring it. Just for tonight he wanted to be alone. However, somehow he did find it in himself to answer it.

“Yes?”

“Captain Solo, this is Dispatch. A man named Dr. Sypet Lakrys have left a message for you. Where do you want us to connect it?”

Han sat up quickly. He felt a little dizzy, that’s what you get if you drink on empty stomach, but he did manage to settle himself.

“Can you convert it to my commlink?” he asked.

“Of yourse, Captain Solo!”

A constant beeping sound filled his ears while he waited, so he pulled the offending object away from himself. Few minutes passed, then a slightly different mechanical sound indicated that the transmission got through.

_“Captain Solo?”_ There was great amount white noise which most likely was created by the converting _. “I heard what happened and I’m truly sorry. But I think I have something that maybe could be of use for you? My family and I are staying on Bellassa, Ussa now. We could meet here, if you are interested. With best regards, Sypet Lakrys.”_

Han stared at night lights beyond the window. The explosion in the storage building destroyed every evidence that could have meant anything against Talvir Zactar. Rieekan had questioned the senator, but the basic law of the New Republic allowed every planet to do private researches and keep them secret if they want as long as this research doesn’t threaten the Republic or another planet. Han personally thought that unleashing a monster onto Coruscant is a threat, but he was downvoted. And now Lakrys was offering him something and it was about that damn madness that cost them so much.

Following the Hydian Way would take him there. He would take the [Perlemian Trade Route](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Perlemian_Trade_Route/Legends) to Brentaal, then the Hydian Way to Bellassa. The capital of the planet, Ussa was beautiful. He would take Leia with him, it would do good for all of them. Before they’d return home, they’d go and collect Ben from Kashyyyk,. He nodded to himself and rose to his feet. He was already running mental list for their travel.

Their apartment was dark when he entered. After a quiet question, Threepio motioned towards the bedroom. Even the protocol-droid was silent that day. Han entered their room and found Leia sitting there in front of her huge mirror and combed her hair with that well known absent look on her face. Han hated that face.

“Dr. Lakrys contacted me,” he started slowly. Leia didn’t react. “He has something for us that could help. I think he meant the investigation against Zactar. He is on Bellassa now---“

“There is no investigation.” Leia spoke up quietly interrupting him.

“But…”

“There is no investigation against Senator Zactar!” she said more forcefully and slammed down her comb.

“I know that there is no official investigation, but I think we should see what Lakrys wants.” Han offered quietly. His face fell when his wife shook her head and crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest.

“Han! Leave it!”

“What?” he was incredulous. “Don’t you want to know? Maybe…”

“Stop it now!” she was shouting by then. “Stop it! Luke is gone, do you understand? Gone!” she leaned forward and buried her face into her hands. The shaking of her shoulders gave her silent tears away. ”He left me.” she sobbed. “What will we… what will I do without him?”

Han moved forward and wrapped her into his arms. She clenched her fists into his shirt and buried her face into his chest.

“We should leave Coruscant. We need to.” He whispered into her hair. Leia pulled away and shook her head.

“I can’t go. Not right now. The New Republic needs me even more now. The Empire is not defeated completely. With this…” she trailed off, but she didn’t have to continue for him to understand. Luke had been the last Jedi. Leia had barely started her training, Ben was still a very young child. There was no one else, except maybe Mara. However, she was still a huge mystery for them.

“You should go though.” Leia continued quietly. Han pulled away abruptly to look at her in disbelief.

“I won’t leave you!” he vowed forcefully. She smiled sadly and put a gently hand onto his cheek.

“I need you to go. Please. I—“ She looked away “I need to be alone now. I need to do my thing. And somehow…I know you need to do this. At least you will.”

Han pulled away and sank down onto their bed. He felt so lost and Leia was so far away.

***

_She stumbled in the dark. Her hands were placed onto the cave wall next to her as she tried find a way out of wherever she managed to end up. She cursed softly as she nearly fell over another rock. There was a faint light ahead of her and that was where she tried to get. The air smelled like ozone and it was really hard to breath, but she refused to stop. She felt like something was pulling her towards the small light, something even stronger than the need of getting out of the darkness._

_As she got closer the light grew bigger and after few more stumbles and crawling in the dark she all but fell out of the darkness into a very dimly lit chamber. She couldn’t even spot the source of the light. There was that strange substance again, but not just here and there, but everywhere. It created a wed in the chamber covering every surface except one. That was exactly where her gaze was fixated. It looked like an altar stone, long and wide enough for a person to fit on it._

_A figure was laying on it._

_She took a step forward her eyes widening. She felt a nearly unbearable tightness around her heart. The figure was dressed in black, his skin so pale that it glowed in the dark. His light-colored hair spread out like a halo around his serene face._

_She reached out a hand for him and called his name._

Her eyes snapped open. She blinked up at the ceiling of the hotel room she was currently staying in. It was still dark outside and only the neon signs of the surrounding buildings gave some light. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and sighed tiredly.

She had been having this dream for a week now. It was always the same. She kicked of her blanket and got up. She had enough experience to know that she won’t be able to sleep again that night. She glanced at her chrono and noted that the Sun would be up in an hour. She took a hot shower, then ate some of the leftovers she had in the fridge while her hair dried on its own. She started her caf maker and grabbed one of her datapads. Since the first time she had had this dream, she had been trying to find that place, so far without success. First of her problem was that Coruscant had no real nature anymore. The whole planet had been systematically built in. It was an ecumenopolis. Even the weather was artificial. All of that meant that there were no caves that could fit her dream. That’s why she decided to switch to another approach, the sewer network.

Her caf maker beeped and she went and got a cup of it. She sat back down to her caf table which she was currently using as her worktable. She sipped her drink slowly as she sank back into her work. Her main focus was on Level One under the underworld. It was un habitable, but if she wanted to find that place, and if it was on Coruscant, she had no other options.

She jumped a little when her doorbell rang, then her slightly dazed expression turned into a frown. The sun had come up already, but a quick glance at her chrono confirmed that it was still early. She touched the security system’s control panel and pulled the recording of the door’s camera forward. She frowned again when she saw who it was.

Why would he come here?

She strode to the door and opened it. “Solo!” she greeted the man cautiously.

Han looked drawn-out and his hazel eyes were blood-shot. In short he looked like someone whom the rancor just spat out.

“Mara,” he nodded back at her. Even his voice was lifeless.

She stepped out of the way and allowed him in. Once he took the offered seat on the couch, he asked for a cup of caf what she provided quickly.

“What brought you here?” she asked when she sat down in the armchair.

“I got a message from Dr. Lakrys yesterday.” he started. She ran quickly through the information she had of the man. He had been the youngest of the research team working on Project Astolas. He had no criminal record and his specialization was theoretical physics. Luke had locked away his memories of the incident (and as later turned out of the whole project) to save him from his catatonic state.

“And?” she asked.

“He said that he has something that could help us.” Han finished and regarded her with an odd expression.

She leaned back in her seat and lifted an eyebrow. “Help with what exactly?”

The way he shifted his gaze gave away that he knew what she referred to. The search for Luke or the investigation of Zactar, both of those were closed off.

“I don’t know.” he said finally. “He is on Bellassa. I’m going there and I thought maybe you’d like to see what he has too.”

She blinked at him in surprise. Did he just invite her to accompany him?

“What about Leia?” it was the first thing she managed to ask and she winced internally.

“She has to stay here for now. It would be just me and Chewie.”

She visibly hesitated, so he leaned forward and raised a finger in front of her.

“Listen. I’m not blind. I always have been good at detecting hidden things, that was what kept me alive during the years. I know that Luke meant a lot to you and that’s why I offer this. No ulterior motive.”

Her gaze slipped away from him and fell upon the blue prints of the sewer network. An impossible labyrinth, but maybe with some help she could find something…

She turned back to the man and nodded slowly. “I’ll come with you.”

He gave her a sad little smile, but she raised her finger the same way he just did before and stopped him before he could say a word.

“I want to make something clear!”

He raised an eyebrow in question.

“He still means a lot to me.” she finished softly.

He blinked slowly at her and she saw as something flashed through his hazel eyes. His lips formed another sad little smile.

“Yeah… To me too.”

***

They planned to leave as soon as possible. Mara decided it would be better to travel together, so she left her precious Fire at a well-guarded docking bay and got ready to travel with the Falcon. They didn’t need much supplies, because of Han’s planned stop at Brentaal. They met in front of the spaceport at noon. They ran through their lists of necessary supplies as they approached the Falcon. Both of them stopped in confusion when they noticed Wedge Antilles and Artoo waiting for them in front of the ship. The Rouge pilot had a big military pack placed next to him on the ground.

“Wedge? What are you doing here?” Han asked cautiously. After their argument before the ceremony he was at lost by the other Corellian’s presence.

Wedge raised an eyebrow at Mara, but answered Han’s question. “I’m coming with you.”

Han’s mouth fell open at the statement, because that what it was. Wedge decided to come and he would by any means by the look of his face. “But how…”

Han started to ask the most obvious question. How did the other guy know where he was heading? Wedge grinned brightly and patted Artoo’s dome. “I have an excellent informant. So, shouldn’t we depart?”

With that he turned around and swaggered up into the Falcon in a very corellian way. Han turned an open-mouthed face towards Mara and she burst out laughing.

“Off we go, Solo!” 

Chewie had everything at ready when Han made his way into the cockpit and strapped himself in. He got his clearance from Traffic Control and the Falcon left Coruscant with her passengers. The jump into hyperspace was uneventful like expected and Brentaal was not that far away, so Han left the cockpit to seek out his companions and maybe get some answers. He found Wedge sitting on the lounge seat. He had a datapad in his hands and he was focusing on it intently. Artoo had placed himself next to the pilot. Han regarded the little droid sadly. Artoo had protested against the ceremony the same way as Wedge, but when he hadn’t managed to convince Leia, he had disappeared. Not even Threepio could find him.

Han sighed and walked closer to the pair and sat down in front of Wedge. “We will reach Brentaal in five hours.” He announced. Wedge looked up at him, nodded, then turned back to his datapad. Han huffed in annoyance. “Won’t you say something?”

Wedge gave him a cheeky grin. “No, but I’d have a drink or two!”

“No drinking!” Mara strode in disapproval clear on her face. She changed, Han noted. She wasn’t wearing her usual jumpsuit, but a slightly baggy, black military trousers with so many pockets that it was hard to count. His eyes were pulled to her jacket though. It was black and bigger than what she needed. It looked familiar too. Then it clicked. It was worn, but how wouldn’t it be? It did survive Jabba, Vader and Palpatine. His gaze met hers and noted the challenge in it. He decided not to comment, but pulled an annoyed expression on his face.

“This is my ship, you know! I decide who can drink or not!” She ignored her snort. “And there is no drinking till we reach Brentaal!”

He ignored Wedge’s snort too.

To Be Continued


	2. TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellassa, here they come!

Brentaal IV’s spaceport was busy as expected of a planet that was the intersection of the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route, two of the Galaxy's major hyperlanes. The three humans left the Flacon while Chewbacca stayed and guarded the ship with R2. They maneuvered through the mass of people together. Mara noted with annoyance that the two Corellian men placed themselves on either side of her. Like she needed to be protected!

They visited stores after stores and collected everything they needed for their week-long journey to Bellassa. By the time they took their supplies back to the Flacon, Bentraal’s sole sun was setting. They were staying in the capital, Cormond for the night and continue their journey in the morning. Mara didn’t feel like visiting a cantina and by the look of it, her two companions shared her mood. Once finished with the supplies, Solo had retreated into the cockpit of his precious ship. She met with Chewbacca at the bulkhead door. He turned his head to the side and sniffed at her. Mara stiffened. She wasn’t that familiar with wookiees. Chewbacca growled something and patted the top of her head. She froze to the spot with wide eyes and didn’t move for seconds even after that the wookiee had left. What the nine corellian hells was that? After blinking away her confusion she continued her way into the cockpit. 

Solo sat in the pilot seat. He was staring out through the window, his eyes glazed over. She leaned against the doorframe and regarded him for a few seconds.

“Everything is set!” she announced.

Solo flinched a little, though he nearly managed to cover it up. He nodded absently and turned back to his brooding. Mara was so not good with comforting people. Moreover, she didn’t even understand the need to do it with Solo. Without even noticing, she started to open her mouth to say something what she would regret immediately. However, she was saved by the sound of a pair of heavy boots approaching. She snapped her mouth shut just in time as Antilles strode in, stopping next to her. He held a bottle of something in his right hand and a cheeky grin on his face.

“Now we drink!” he announced.

Mara glanced at Solo, who was eyeing the bottle longingly. She would have preferred to wait till they start their week-long journey to Bellassa with the drinking, but she couldn’t get what she wanted all the time, right? Her hand shot out and snatched the bottle away from Antilles. She ignored his wide-eyed stare and she checked the label on the bottle. Corellian ale and a really good one. She raised an eyebrow at the two men.

“So, coming?”

They emptied the bottle quickly between the three of them. Han went and got two other from his hidden stash. None of them were lightweight, but even their liver couldn’t keep up with their consumption. Soon they were laying around the loungue babbling about a young, blond haired Jedi whom they missed oh so much. They shed shameless tears too.

Chewbacca walked in on them and after a long-suffering growl he sat out and carried each one of them into their separate bunk, tugged them in and promised a very unpleasant morning for them.

***

He woke to a pounding headache and a very unpleasant feeling in his stomach. So, his plan worked yesterday, though he didn’t have any actual memory of it. Maybe better that way. He turned onto his back with a groan. He didn't dare to open his eyes yet. The world was spinning dangerously on its own.

“Antilles! We are taking off in a half an hour!” the unforgiving female voice felt like knifes in his head. He groaned again. He had a hell of a hangover. He forced his eyes open, then waited an eternity for the world to stop spinning. When it did, he sat up slowly. After another eternity later he was able to look around. He had slept in the bunk of the longue. He noted that Mara Jade stood not far from him tapping her foot against the durasteel of the floor. It made a very unpleasant sound.

“Can you stop that?” he all but pleaded.

“No!” she huffed. Come to think of it. Although she was pale and had dark circles under her eyes, she looked way too good for someone who drank as much alcohol as she had last night. He narrowed his eyes at her. Strange woman!

“We are taking off in a half an hour!” she repeated.

“And why would it concern me? I’m a passenger now, Solo is piloting.” He growled and staggered to his feet. The caf maker was close and he started one for himself immediately.

“It concerns us both, because Solo looks even worse than you!” she shot back. Speaking of the devil, Han made his way very slowly into the lounge. He did look horrible! He growled at them like an angry wookie and continued his way towards the cockpit. He was followed by Chewbacca who rumbled continuously under his thick fur. The two passengers stared after them, then Wedge turned back towards Mara. He motioned towards the cockpit with his thumb.

“He will drive the Falcon like that?”

Mara glared at him, then strode after the pair. Wedge drank his caf, then took a sonic shower which sadly didn’t have the same effect on his hangover as a normal shower with actual water would have. Thanks to his military training he was ready in no time and risked a visit to the cockpit. Things were hectic there. Han was arguing with Mara and Chewbacca at the same time. He tried to type Bellassa’s coordinates into the navigation system, but from the look of Chewbacca’s exasperated face, he didn’t get it right. The wookie batted Han’s hands away and took over the task. Solo grumbled and mumbled under his nose and sat down in the pilot chair. He reached for the consoles. Antilles backed away from the cockpit and raced back into the lounge. He sat down quickly and fastened the acceleration straps around himself. The Flacon’s engines started rumbling and after a shudder, he felt the ship moving. He was really close to start praying…

However, to his total surprise, the Falcon’s movements were smooth and he barely felt the turns it took as they left the atmosphere. After several minutes the little shudders disappeared and the ship stilled. They jumped to hyperspace. Wedge slowly reached for his straps and released himself.

Solo really was an exceptional pilot!

Jade walked through the bulkhead door and threw herself down onto a lounge seat with a loud sigh.

“Solo was driving?” he had to ask. Jade nodded slowly.

Wedge leaned back in his seat with an easy grin. “Went better than what I expected!”

“Yeah… Except he managed to piss off Traffic Control.” Mara huffed. “They nearly brought Security onto us.”

“How?”

“He called them names that I won’t repeat ever. I’ve never heard those words before, not even while surrounded by smugglers.” Mara muttered and lowered her head onto the desk.

Oops… Wedge winced. He had probably heard those words before. Hungover Corellians weren’t fun company and when they were forced to work…. dear Mother of Corellians! Though he knew a good solution for that, a real Corellian solution!

“I have another bottle!” he announced. He grinned at Mara’s glare.

“No more alcohol!” She nearly cried.

“Okay, Okay!” he said placatingly. “It’s a long journey, we’ll need to lay by!”

She gave him an evil eye, then stood to take a spare datapad from the lounge’s storage compartment. She pulled a datacard from one of her many pockets and connected the two devices. However, her frown gave away how difficult it was for her to start working.

“Need some caf?” he offered and stood.

“Yeah,” she sighed and rubbed her face.

“One for me too!”  Solo called as he walked in followed by Artoo. Wedge nodded and turned towards the machine while watching the little droid from the corner of his eyes. Artoo placed himself next to the former smugler’s leg like an obedient pet. It seemed like at least those two were reconciled. He smiled to himself. It was a start! He made three cups of caf and as he sat one down next to Jade, his eyes fell upon the screen of her datapad.

“Is that a sewer network?” it slipped out of his mouth. First Jade tensed, then gave both of them a thoughtful glance. In the end, she lowered her datapad with a sigh.

“Yes, it is. Coruscant’s actually.”

“What do you want with it?” Han asked as he took his own caf from Wedge’s hand.

Mara hesitated again. “It’s just a hunch.”

“About Luke, right?”  Han’s face was open and encouraging when he asked. He stretched out his hand and Mara gave him the datacard. He connected it to the side of the hologram board, it switched to holo-projector mode and the blue prints appeared in front of them. Wedge whistled softly. It was a hell of a maze!

“Luke’s first dreams weren’t about the attacks,” Mara started. “They were about a cave and that thing. He saw Lakme in those dreams too.”

“Lakme?” Wedge asked.

“The scientist who disappeared in the explosion.” Han explained. Wedge nodded and motioned for Mara to continue.

“After what happened, I’ve been trying to find that cave. But this is Coruscant, not much nature to start with. The closest we can get to the original ground is Level One.” she waved her hand in front of the said part of the sewer network. “The maintenance droids go down there yearly and their reports are up-to-date. All I have to do is pinpoint the most likely places and go down there to check them out. I’ve already ruled out these areas.”  She marked ten places on the projected blueprints.

It was a hell of task, Wedge noted to himself. Most likely impossible. He glanced expectantly at the other Corellian. Han stared at the blueprints deep in thought for a few second.

“Well,” he said finally, “it won’t sort it out itself. What are your parameters?”

Mara gave them an unexpected smile, then pulled another datacard from her pocket and handed it to Solo. In no time Wedge found himself immersed in work with the other two. Even Artoo connected himself to the holo board with a determined whistle. Wedge noted for himself that Mara had a way too exact description of that cave, but decided not to comment on it. After all he had his own suspicion of Mara and this Force thing.

They worked in silence (surprising this considering there were two Corellians in the room) through the day. Sometimes one of them stood to stretch or walk around a little, visit the fresher. Chewbacca interrupted them two times to force some food into their stomach. When the words and maze of tunnels started to blur in front of his eyes, Wedge stood and went for his stuff in the storage bay. He grabbed a bottle from his stuff and strode back to the lounge area.

Here it goes!

“Studies confirmed that alcohol makes you creative,” he announced to the other two humans in the longue area. While Solo gaped at him, Mara just sighed and saved their work onto the datapad and cleared the table. He placed the bottle down on to the table and got everyone a glass.

“Come on guys! Down with it!”

They got drunk even quicker than yesterday.

***

They created a routine. They got up whenever their body felt ready for the next day. The usual sequence was Mara, Wedge, then Han. Each of them nursed their hangover in their own separate way, then when ready, they sat down to continue sorting the sewer network out. Sometimes Wedge got up to make some caf, Han to walk around, talk with Chewie, check on the Falcon. Mara usually disappeared during the afternoon to do some exercise in the cargo bay, then resurfaced when she finished and cleaned up. In the evening, they saved their work and cleared the table. After that they played sabbac or a drinking game. They drank till the words didn’t hurt anymore, then they talked. On the lucky days, they managed to find their own bunks in the end. If not Chewie had to do the rearrangement.

One night after several drinks the subject of Luke resurfaced again. This time they talked about how they got to know the young Jedi. Mara’s story was well-known, but it was still strange to hear how Palpatine’s hate influenced her. Though, she still kept some parts, the important parts secret. Not even the alcohol allowed her to let on the depths of the Emperor’s hold on her. When she finished the censored version of her story, she turned to Wedge.

“And you? How did you two met?”

Wedge leaned back in his seat a fond grin lighting up his face. “Actually I kinda knew him before we personally met. There was this guy, Biggs Darklighter, hell of a pilot too! He wouldn’t shut up about a hotshot brat back on Tatooine. Then one day the Falcon landed on Yavin IV and this wide-eyed kid strode into our lives. In no time Biggs convinced everyone to give him an X-wing. I don’t think I can ever forget that scene, when I saw them preparing for that battle. Biggs was showing him the consoles of the ship. It went like that.

_“And remember, this is---“ Biggs trailed off when he noticed that Luke’s attention was on something entirely different thing. Again._

_“Luke!”_

_“What?”_

_“Can’t you focus for five whole minutes?”_

_Luke grinned sheepishly and turned his eyes back to the X-wings control panel. However, after a minute his gaze started wander around again. Biggs gave a gentle slap at the back of his head._

_“Ow! Sorry. It’s just this place is so overwhelming!”_

_“Really, Luke? We are going into a battle! A real battle, with real ships and real laser canons! And you are occupied with a hangar?”_

_“Well not the hangar, but the planet. I haven’t actually seen so much green before.”  Biggs rubbed his face exasperatedly. He was the exact image of an over-frustrated older brother._

_“Who cares, Luke? Concentrate! You have to learn how to drive this ship---“_

_“I know already!”_

_“No, you don’t!”_

_“Yes, I do! I’ve had the blueprints of it back home. I know every little button on this thing.”_

_“You have a legendary memory, Luke, but knowing the blueprints are not the same as knowing how to drive it!”_

_“I will be fine! Natural talent, remember?”  Luke’s boyish confidence brightened up his face, but Biggs had already grown immune to that._

_“You were a hotshot on that T-16, but this is an X-wing! A real X-wing!”  the older man waved his arms around in exasperation._

_“What’s that sound?”  Luke snapped his gaze up towards the sky from where a curious looking ship was descending. Biggs looked up at the new comer and shrugged._

_“It’s a Hammerhead Corvette. Some of the ships had to jump around before they could come back from Scarif. Now back to ---“_

_“Let’s check it out!”  Luke all but jumped off the X-wing and started towards the new comer._

_“No! We need to  --- Hey! Stop that! Stop doing this wide-eyed , lost little furry thing face! Luke!”_

“They went to see the corvette?” Mara asked with a lopsided grin.

Wedge nodded back. “They went to see the corvette. I swear I’ve never been so terrified of going into a battle with someone new. And then he just went and blew up the Death Star.”

“With some help!” Han interjected.

“With some help of course. After that I didn’t know what to do with him, but I couldn’t avoid him forever. He just strode up to me and asked about the other pilots who perished in that battle. He wanted to know them, every one of them, because as he said they deserved to be remember as they truly lived before their death. That was the minute when I started respecting him.”  Wedge finished and gulped down his wine. They sat in silence for a few minute, then Mara reached for the bottle again.

“So, embarrassing stories?”

“I have one! Scratch that! I have lots of them!” Han cried and immediately started sharing them.

***

All of them made sure to be presentable and well-rested the time when they left hyperspace at Bellassa.

“Lakrys expects us at the Commons in three standard hours.” Han told them as he and Chewbacca navigated the Falcon through the traffic towards Ussa’s spaceport. Mara watched the capital as they approached it through the window. The seven beautiful lakes of Ussa and their cities around it connected by the Commons. There used to be an Imperial garrison, she remembered visiting it few times as the Emperor’s Hand. It seemed like it was the first thing to go after the Alliance took Bellassa back from the Imperials. The citizens of Ussa restored the park as best as they could according the city guide she found on the HoloNet.

Han and Chewbacca landed the Falcon expertly at the spaceport. “The Commons is not far. We can walk there.” Solo announced.

Chewbacca decided to stay with the Falcon again while the three humans left the spaceport. The walk was pleasant despite the huge mass of people who occupied the streets. Despite the several stops they made during their little journey, they arrived early to the Commons. However, they weren’t the only ones early. Han noticed Lakrys with his wife and someone else with him sitting on a bench near the playgrounds. They approached the scientist cautiously. It was Ilren who noticed them first.

“Captain Solo!” She greeted him as she rose to her feet elegantly. She looked much better than she had the last time he had seen her. Sypet was less elegant, but much more eager in his greetings, though he shot uncertain glances at Solo’s companions until the Corellian introduced them and assured him that they were trustworthy. Then it was his turn to look meaningfully at the other woman next to Lakrys. She was an exotic beauty with her half-human half-bothan features. She looked more feline than canine though. Her pointed ears kept her long black hair back from her face and a black furred tail was twitching under her dark cloak.

“We should take a walk!” Sypet announced. Ilren nodded at them and set back down onto the bench. Han understood why. He could see Gibek not so far from them on the playgrounds. Ben’s tiny face flashed in front of his eyes and he quickly turned away with a sudden ache in his chest.

“Let’s go!” he nodded.

They barely started walking towards the less crowded parts of the park when Mara spoke up.

“You are Kritaja Triarrel” She addressed the half bothan.

The woman leveled her icy blue eyes at Mara, then nodded slowly. “Yes, I am.”

“Kirtaja Triarrel…” Han murmured the name thoughtfully, then it clicked into place for him too. “You are a smuggler!”

This time Kritaja smirked. “Yes, I am.”

“Lakrys?” Han hissed at the doctor waiting for an explanation. The scientist ran a hand through his dark hair.

“It’s slightly complicated.” He huffed. “What I’m about to say probably puts a great danger onto me and my family. I might have done some illegal things, so I couldn’t turn to the authorities, but I think maybe you would understand and we could trust you.”

Han blinked at the scientist’s open face. He personally didn’t have lots of things against little crimes. He actually lived in the grey area of life most of the time. He didn’t think that Lakrys would be able to kill anyone, but he couldn’t say the same thing about Triarrel. He glanced at Mara. Since the events of Coruscant he was certain that she was force-sensitive and most likely got some training from Luke too. Maybe she could get a hint of what the scientist was talking about. And indeed, she was watching Triarrel with the same slightly narrowed eyed, the same expression Luke used to have when he was reading people.

In the end though Wedge took the decision out of his hands.

“Is the information you have enough to build a case against Zactar?” he asked seriously.

Sypet nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Can it give us an explanation on what happened to Luke Skywalker?”

There was another hesitant nod, which seemed to satisfy Wedge, because he smiled and shook the scientist’s hand.

“In that case, we’ll make sure there will be no official consequences for your actions!”

“You can’t promise that!” Han hissed at the other Corellian.

“I can and I just did!” Wedge smirked. “So, what do you have?”

After another moment of hesitation Sypet started his story. “As you know I’ve left Coruscant the next day I was released from the med-center. During the journey, I’ve found something, a reminder to get in touch with Ms. Triarrel. I’ve had no memory of contacting her in the first place, most likely because of its close ties to my trauma. The fact that I’d kept that secret from Ilren too didn’t help either. We arranged a meeting and I’ve found out quite a lot. Moreover, some of my memories came back!”

This fact visibly made him happy, but one look at his companions’ mistrustful glares was a good indicator that he had to hurry up with his story.

“My point is, I’ve arranged a meeting with Ms. Triarrel. As it turned out I hired her to steal the original documentation of Project Astolas. I knew there was something more to that project. Something bad! The things that happened on Coruscant just proved my suspicions.”

“And what did you find?” Mara aimed her question at Triarrel.

“I’ve followed Zactar around for weeks, even searched his personal computer without results. However,” Kritaja reached into her pocket and pulled out a holo-disk. “I had more luck with Icys Serx!”

“Zactar’s right-hand man” Han muttered. Kritaja nodded and put the disk away.

“We couldn’t actually access the information.” Sypet spoke up again. “It’s encrypted. We haven’t been able to break it yet, but we are working on it.”

“I know someone who can help with that.” Mara offered.

“Excuse me, but I can’t just hand it over to you.” Kritaja said coldly.

“If it’s about your payment, we can---“ Han started, but the woman cut him off quickly.

“It has nothing to do with my payment! However, Lakrys and I will stay involved.” She stated.

Han was opening his mouth to argue back, when suddenly Mara slammed against him and pushed him and Sypet to the ground. The next minute a laser bolt hit the tree behind him.

Someone’s shooting at us!” he heard Wedge’s voice. Han swore and pushed himself up from the ground. He rushed after Kritaja who was pushing Sypet into a huge thick bush. People were screaming and running up and down around them.

“My family!” Sypet cried and tried to move out of their cover.

I’ll get them!” Kritaja pushed him back down. She leveled her cold eyes at Han. “Watch him!”

Mara watched her go with a frown. “Are you sure that was a good idea? What if she does something…”

“No!” Sypet cut her off loudly. After Wedge’s impatient hiss he continued more silently. “Ms. Triarrel is trustworthy! She is really trying to help.”

In the mean time Wedge and Han inched closer to the edge of the bush and tried to get a glimpse of their attacker. The Commons was mostly a huge grassy park with some pavilions and several of the same bush that they were hiding in. Ad few trees, a playground and that’s it. It lacked hiding places in general.

“It’s either a very long-ranged weapon or…” Han started.

“Or our attacker is really small.” Wedge finished. “I can’t get a glimpse.

“Security is coming!” Mara warned them and motioned towards a big group of people rushing towards the scene. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to avoid a long and awkward questioning and report filling!”

“Okay, let’s get out of here!” Han nodded. There was a pavilion near them so one by one they slipped behind it. After that they found few trees and bushes that they could use as cover. Luckily there was no more shooting and soon they managed to join a group of anxious looking bystanders.

“Sypet!”

They turned towards the sound and saw Ilren rushing towards them with Gibek. Kritaja trailed after them with another small figure next to her.

“We need to get out of Ussa. Bellassa even!” Kritaja said and pulled the little figure closer to her body.

“It will be a little crowded, but we can managed in the Falcon.” Han offered. There was no way he was going to let their only lead out of sight.

“Than what are we waiting for?” Kritaja waved her free hand impatiently.

Han took the lead again. They got back to the spaceport in record time, despite the two tiny sets of legs accompanying them. Chewei had the Falcon ready by that time. The moment the ramp closed behind them, the tiny figure tore itself away from Kritaja and threw back its cloak. A tiny half bothan, half human girl was hiding under it. Her features were the exact same as Kritaja’s, but her coloring was much lighter. She was an albino to be exact.

“Lialana!” Kritaja hissed. The girl ignored her and spun around with an ecstatic smile on her face.

“Mom! This is huge!” she giggled happily.

Han blinked at the little girl, then at Kritaja. “You have a daughter!”

The half-bothan sighed exasperatedly and rubbed her face. “Really, Solo? Fantastic!”

Han shrugged to himself and tried not to think about Ben. He strode to the cockpit, fully aware that Wedge was following close. Chewie growled angrily when they arrived.

“What?” Wedge asked when Han cursed.

“We can’t leave Bellassa. Moreover, we can expect an inspection soon. Security takes the shooting really seriously.” Han huffed and collapsed into the pilot chair.

“You have a fancy rank at Intel,”Wedge offered.” Use it!”

“We are not on Coruscant!”

“So what? Bellassa is part of the New Republic!”

“With conditions,” Han sighed. “We shouldn’t steer up lots of trouble, Wedge!”

The younger Corellian regarded his companion with a raised eyebrow till Han snapped. “What?”

“I think you spend way too much time with the higher-ups,” with that he turned on his heels and walked back to the lounge area.

***

Mara was sitting on one of the lounge chairs and watched the one and a half family in front of her. Though, her main focus was on Lialana. She had never seen her before, but she brought back a memory nonetheless.

_Their tent protected them from the cold desert night of Jakku. She woke on their makeshift bed with a start. A quick glance certified that she was alone in the tent. She got up with a sigh and pulled a rob around her body. She followed the whisper of their connection outside and she found him sitting in front of their campfire._

_“Hey!” he called softly and turned his head towards her._

_“Hey!” she replied equally quietly. There was no real need to be silent, there was no other soul near. However, desert nights have a funny effect on you and the need to be silent was just one of them._

_“Do you have a problem with the term of sleep?” she asked with a half-smile. He huffed a silent laugh and leaned back._

_“I like sleeping,” he stated._

_“You just don’t do it at night.” she sat down and snuggled close to him. Desert nights were chilly._

_“I had a dream.” he said after a while._

_“Dream or vision?” she asked the almost routine question.  He hummed to himself quietly and stared up at the stars._

_“Dunno…”_

_“What was it about?”_

_“I was teaching.” he said and smiled fondly. “I had such an aversion before. Me and teaching? But in my dream I enjoyed it so much. There were five kids. I think one of them was Ben. Three humans, a Twi’lek and an albino half-bothan girl. They were so eager and so bright in the Force.”_

_“It sounds nice!” Mara smiled._

_“It was,” he nodded. “Then another little girl came. Much smaller, maybe three or four years old?”_

_“And?” she asked when he trailed off._

_“She called me Daddy.”_

“Mara?” he jumped a little when she heard her name. She blinked up at Wedge’s frowning face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine!” she nodded and cleared her throat. “Why aren’t we on our way?”

Wedge grimaced and rolled his eyes. “We are delayed.”

Mara groaned and gazed back at the other people crowding in the lounge area.

“Come to think of it,” she started loudly so everyone turned towards her. “We didn’t get your stuff.”

“We were staying with Ilren’s parents.” Sypet replied. “Everything we need to continue our investigations is with us.”

“We travel light” Kritaja nodded.

“That’s nice and all,” Mara huffed. “But I meant clothes, food and toys.”

The two kids smiled brightly at the mention of toys.

“Mara is right.” Han joined in. “I’ve spoken with Security and the inspectors will arrive in a half hour. Fewer people on this ship is the better, I think.”

Mara noted Kritaja’s protective movement towards her daughter.

“I’ll think Ilren, Kritaja and the kids should come with me to get the supplies. The rest of you can deal with the Inspectors, right?” she offered.

“That might not be a bad idea.” Kritaja nodded.

“Maybe I should go with you.” Wedge spoke up. “Someone did shoot at us.”

“Let’s not move in hordes” Mara joked. “We’ll stick together, don’t worry. We won’t be that far either.”

Kritaja had to fight her own battle with Lialana, but somehow managed to convince her daughter to wear her cloak again. Ilren proved to be the master of creating shopping lists and soon the five of them slipped out of the ship.

***

The inspectors arrived ten minutes later. The chief apologized for the inconvenience of the situation. Wedge glanced at Han when the officers started their swift work.

“Stirring some trouble?” he whispered.

“No trouble, yet!” Han replied equally quietly, but he had a tiny grin on his face.

Good. Wedge nodded to himself. There is still hope for him after all.

To Be Continued

 

         

   

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I try to post weekly, but I have lots of things coming up and I do lots of research which sadly takes time.  
> 2\. Half-bothans actually exist in the Star Wars universe. Check out Valenthyne Farfalla!  
> 3\. It's hard writing Wedge, I hope he is somewhat still in character!  
> 4\. If you have something to add to this story feel free to leave a comment!  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han has way too many people on his ship!

The inspection didn’t take long and not surprisingly they hadn’t found anything suspicious. The chief apologized again and after signing a bunch of paperwork (or datapad work in their case) the officials left. Sypet commed his wife and reported that it was okay to come back to the ship.

“They’ll be there in ten minutes!” he announced.

Han asked Chewie to prepare to take off as soon as possible. When the women arrived back Wedge was there to help them arrange the food and clothes. Mara left the group and joined Han in the cockpit.

“Ghent is on Rydonni Prime,” she said and she sat down in front of the navigation panel. “He’ll get through that encryption in no time.”

“That’s not very far,” Han nodded and gave the access codes to Mara. “Put the coordinates in and let’s go. We already have our permission.”

Mara worked swiftly and after rechecking the coordinates she gave them the thumb up. They took off easily and after maneuvering around several incoming ships, they jumped to hyperspace.

Han leaned back in his seat and groaned loudly. Mara raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“There are way too many people on my ship.” Han muttered.

Jade smirked. “You did offer them a lift.”

“Stupid me!” Han huffed.

He allowed himself few seconds, but then with a loud groan he pushed himself to his feet. Mara followed him out of the cockpit, but Chewie didn’t seem to want to move. Not that Han could blame him.

Outside he nearly fell over Artoo who was rolling up and down shrieking loudly while the two kids chased him around laughing madly. Han tried not to think about the lot of breakable things inside the Falcon.

Ilren was standing in front of the very small cooker that he once installed in the lounge area, but never really used. There was a big bag placed onto the floor by her legs and occasionally she squatted down next to it and rummaged through it. It looked like by some miracle food would be served.

Wedge and Lakrys were having a very animated conversation. Considering both of their professions and Kritaja’s very bored face, it was probably about flying.

“Our next stop is Rydonni Prime,” Han announced.

“This is where our slicer is.” Mara added. Triarrel grimaced, but didn’t comment on it.

“It will take us few hours to get there,” Han continued. “So, I recommend some down time.”

“It will be the kids bed time soon,” Ilren spoke up, but didn’t turn away from her work. “Dinner will be ready in a half an hour.”

“You know we have a food synthesizer, you don’t have to cook,” Han offered. Ilren spun around and leveled a spoon at him with a glare.

“Nourishment is a very important thing, Captain Solo! As long as I’m on this ship there will be no machine-made thing on our plates, am I clear?”

Han gave her a wide-eyed blink and raised his hands placatingly. “Yes, Ma’am!”

Ilren nodded clearly satisfied and turned back to her work. Han glared at Wedge who was trying not to laugh, but was failing visibly.

“While we wait,” Mara spoke up before Han could come up with something to get back at the other Corellian. “Can you tell us the things you remember of the project, Dr. Lakrys?”

Sypet took of his reading-glasses and fumbled with them. “Well, I still have lots of black holes in my memory-lane and I don’t want to jump to the worng conclusion…”

“Lakrys!” Kritaja sighed. “Tell them what you’ve told me.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Sypet sighed.

“You can start with how did you end up being part of the project.” Wedge offered. “Your specialty is theoretical physics, not biology.”

“I’ve joined the project five months ago. They asked me to investigate an anomaly that occurred during the experiments. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to figure out what it was. I was lacking vital information which no one wanted to share with me. The only person who knew everything was Zonlain. Once I overheard him telling someone that the project would be finished till the putsch. That was when I decided to ask for help. So, I contacted Ms. Triarrel.”

“Why didn’t you contact the Senate? Or Intel?” Han asked frowning. “Talvir Zactar is a senator!”

“Exactly!” Sypet countered seriously. “He is a senator and has the power to prevent information leakage. I had to do something without endangering my family.”

“So you asked for help from a smuggler?” Mara asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Because I’m the only smuggler in the room,” Kritaja smirked, but Mara and Han ignored her.

“I’ve known Ms. Triarrel from my childhood.” Sypet explained. “I trust her!”

The tense atmosphere was broken by Ilren who announced that dinner was ready. With a little help she managed to distribute the food between all of them. And Gods, she did know how to cook. Han decided that as long as she is on the Falcon she can cook as much as she want, the food synthesizer wouldn’t be mentioned again. After dinner Lialana and Gibek were ready to fall asleep even on the floor. Han explained to Ilren where the fresher was and which bunkers the kids can use. With the help of Kritaja the mother ushered the kids towards the fresher and soon silence fell upon the lounge area. 

“So,” Wege spoke up again, “Can you tell us more about that anomaly you mentioned?”

“Well I could tell you something, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand. No offense, it’s just science stuff.” Sypet grinned sheepishly, but suddenly turned serious again. “However, the reporters mentioned something that made me think and I think Zonlain was wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” Han frowned.

“They said Zonlain created that thing.”

Han nodded. “Yeah, that’s what he told us.”

“No, he didn’t!” Sypet shook his head. “We didn’t create that thing. I did my calculations and the energy needed for something like that doesn’t exist. Or even if we somehow did manage to create this energy, with our knowledge right now we wouldn’t be able to control it. What I’m trying to say is, the energy that caused the explosion wasn’t great enough to create something like that.” 

“Than what happened?” Mara asked. Her eyes flashed towards the holoprojector than back to Lakrys quickly, but Han caught the movement. He had a good guess what she was thinking about and he found himself leaning forward too.

Sypet placed a datapad onto the table in front of them. All they could see were equations and strange diagrams. They glanced at the scientist with confusion.

“The energy of the explosion was high and concentrated, but the damage is small. An explosion like that should have destroyed not just the whole facility, but half of the neighborhood too.”

His eager and expectant glance was countered with three confused ones so he continued quickly.

“It had to go somewhere! Do you understand?”

“Nope,” Wedge commented.

“A portal!” Sypet nearly cried. “We didn’t create that monster, we brought it there from somewhere!”

***

Her mind was racing as Mara listened to Lakrys’ explanation. She tried to stamp down on the rising hope inside her, but it was hard. A quick glance at Solo and Antilles proved that it wasn’t just her who connected the dots.

“Dr. Lakrys, if it was a portal, where would be the other side? What’s the range?” she asked.

Sypet pulled the datapad closer to himself and started tapping on it rapidly.

“This is exactly what I’ve been working on since my memories started to come back.” he spoke without looking up. “There are so many variables that needs to be cleared before I can say something…”

“Coruscant’s parameters are well-known! Which level could it be?” she demanded.

“Ms. Jade, we are talking about a way larger range than that,” Sypet said with a knowing gaze.

“Larger than Coruscant? You mean you opened a portal to another planet?” Han gaped at the scientist.

“Or a moon.” Lakrys shrugged. “Of course, we can’t rule Coruscant out entirely, but it’s unlikely. You know Coruscant is well monitored. No anomaly was detected other than the two explosions. I couldn’t find anything. However, I’ve found something else. There is still electronic disturbance around the facility. Do you know what that means?”

“That the portal is still opened?” Mara hissed. If she had known that before!

“Wait a minute!” Wedge spoke up. “You want to tell me that there is an open portal in that kriffing building and no one noticed it?”

“There is a restricted area in that building. Not even Intel’s men were allowed in there because of the radiation.” Han explained. Mara nodded. They had found out soon enough that they were lucky that their break in attempt had been stopped by the thing, because otherwise the radiation would have killed them both.

“Even the droids that we sent in were ruined.” she added.

“That radiation can be neutralized.” Sypet shrugged and started typing on his datapad again.

“How?” Han asked.

Sypet grinned sheepishly. “I could explain, but …”

The other three nodded in understanding. Mara rubbed her forehead. All of her work was for nothing and she had wasted so much time. She wanted to jump out of hyperspace and turn the Falcon towards Coruscant. She needed to get through that portal ASAP!

“Wait a minute, guys!” Wedge spoke up breaking through her thoughts. The pilot was frowning at his chrono, then back up at them. “We should have reached Rydonni Prime by now!”

She and Solo checked the chrono too. Wedge was right. They should have arrived by now.

“Is something wrong?” Sypet asked.

“We don’t know yet!” Solo hissed and jumped to his feet. Mara and Wedge followed him into the cockpit, where he brought up the coordinates she had put it in there.

“These are correct.” Han commented.

“Of course, they are!” she hissed. No, she wasn’t holding her breath before.

“Where is Chewie?” Solo demanded and took the pilot seat.

“He walked past us when we were chatting with the prof. Maybe he is in the cargo bay or dunno.” Wedge shrugged.

“Well get him!” Han hissed. Wedge rolled his eyes, but left the cockpit with hurried steps.

The Falcon started shaking and Mara had to steady herself by grabbing the navigator chair. Several yelp and crushing sound came from the core of the ship.

“What’s going on?” Mara demanded.

“I don’t know! We have to get out of hyperspace!”

Suddenly Chewbacca bursted into the cockpit followed by Wedge and Kritaja.

“What’s go---“ the half-bothan started, but Solo’s shouted version of I don’t know shut her up.

“Everyone strap in!” he added. Wedge pushed Kritaja out of the cockpit and shouted for the other passengers to follow him, while Mara placed herself into the navigator chair. Solo and Chewbacca worked onto the control panel and suddenly they jumped out of hyperspace.

Way too close to a planet. Like so close that they entered its atmosphere.

And they were racing towards the ground.

“Solo!” Mara shouted in alarm. Chewbacca roared so loudly that she thought she had gone deaf.

“Working on it!” Han hissed. Despite their best efforts, the ground was getting closer and closer. Then suddenly something gave and the Falcon’s nose rose a little and their speed decreased.

“We will crash-land!” Solo warned them through gritted teeth.

Not being able to do anything else, Mara held onto her seat tightly and more or less prayed to the Force for mercy. They crashed into a forest and probably destroyed several ancient trees. But when their movements stopped and she dared to open her eyes, she found that the cockpit was more or less intact and other than looking dazed, her two companions seemed to be okay too.

“I check on the others.” she offered and got shakily onto her feet.

She found Wedge with their passengers. He was trying to free Lakrys from his acceleration straps. Kritaja was up and checking her daughter over for any injuries. Ilren sat in her seat looking completely dazed, while the two children were laughing hysterically and demanded to repeat that performance again.

“Is everyone alright?” she asked.

“No injuries.” Wedge reported. “What happened?”

She shrugged. Malfunction happened on that ship all the time. Maybe Solo forgot to repair something?

“Mara! Wedge!” they heard Han calling for them. Half way to the cockpit Chewbacca stormed past them with an angry growl. Actually, they had to jump out of his way.  The two of them shared a look, then they hurried to the cockpit.

“What’s going on?” Wedge asked as soon as they arrived.

“Someone tampered with our navigation system.” Han and held up a tiny device to them to see. Mara took it from him and checked it over.

“I’ve never seen something like that!” she muttered to herself. “But who? Our passengers?”

Solo ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed. “I wouldn’t put it past Triarrel, but I don’t think it was her. She clearly cares for her daughter and it would have put a great amount of danger onto her. We have kept a close eye on the inspectors and other than them no one else got on the Falcon. I’m out of ideas.”

“But there is still our mysterious attacker.” Wedge mused. “He or she had all the time in the world to get onto the Falcon after the attack.”

“But into the cockpit? There was no way to get through so many people in such a tight space!”

Mara’s face darkened when a sudden thought occurred to her. “Or we have brought him with us from Coruscant!”

The two men stared at her, but she ignored them. She examined the little device again, even tried to do it with the Force, but her concentration was none existent. She was way too angry at herself for not noticing the danger, because of feelings. Such an amateur mistake! She didn’t notice that her hold on the thing was so tight that she nearly broke it, till Wedge gently pried it out of her hand.

“Hey now!” he soothed, “We need to concentrate on the solutions. Do we know, where are we?”

“Another bad news.” Solo grimaced. “We are on Columus.”

Mara groaned. Great! The natives on Columus were the Columi, very large head, atrophied limbs, very smart and well developed hate towards the non-Columi.

“They won’t be happy,” Wedge muttered as he pocketed the device.

“Chewie is checking the ship.” Han started with a resignated sigh. “At least the Columi’s technology is advanced enough, maybe we can get what we need from them.”

As it turned out they did need few things. Chewbacca set out repairing some of the damage he could without spare parts. Mara and Han decided to go search for the closest city which meant a probably long walk through the woods, while Wedge stayed on the ship with their passengers. Ilren prepared some food for them and soon the pair found themselves stumbling through the forest.

“At least we don’t have to haul Artoo with us this time.” Mara commented absentmindedly after a while. Han snorted knowing way too well which forest trip she was referring to.

“He is awfully withdrawn though,” she continued. She jumped over a fallen tree trunk and ducked under the branch that Han was pulling back for her.

“He never took it well to be separated from Luke,” Han replied.

“I’ve never met a droid like that before.” Mara added.

A fond smile appeared on the former smuggler’s face. “Well neither did I.”

They fell into silence again. Mara studied the environment intently. The forest was thick and dark thanks to the huge trees that covered the sky above them. Understandably the visibility wasn’t that good, probably that was the source of her uneasiness. That and her lack of knowledge of this planet’s wildlife.

“Can I ask you something?” Han spoke up after a while.

“Hmmm?”

The former smuggler adjusted the strap of his backpack and kept his gaze firmly on the trees.

“You are so sure, that Luke is still alive despite everything. How?”

“Well, Lakrys did give us some hope…” Mara replied with a shrug.

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

“Shut up, Solo!” Mara hissed.

“Hey! You don’t have to be so defensive. I just…”

However, Mara cut him off immediately. “No, Solo! I’m mean shut up! Listen!”

Han stilled and turned his attention to the forest around them. Soon enough he heard the soft rustling of leaves and the growling that accompanied it.

“What exactly do you know about the wildlife of Columus?” Han hissed.

“Absolutely nothing,” Mara whispered.

“Well, let’s not wait around for it!” Han spun around and grabbed a low branch of the tree next to them. He pulled himself up and reached down for Mara, but she ignored him. She leaped up into the air with the help of the Force and the low gravity of the planet and she arrived on a branch above the former smuggler.

“Show off!” Han muttered and climbed after her.

He just pulled himself up on the next branch when a pack of creatures appeared through the bushes that surrounded the trees. There were five of them and they reminded Mara of the vornsk they encountered on Myrkr. The carnivores sniffed around the tree they were hiding on, then they took off on the path they made through the forest.

“Are they going towards the ship?” Mara asked.

“I’ve told Chewie to keep the ship closed while we are away. They will be okay,” Han assured her. “So, what now?”

Mara gazed up at the sky where the sun was setting.

“Well, these branches are wide enough. I’d prefer spending the night up here.”

“Agreed.” Han nodded and the two of them started preparing for the night.

To be continued

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just finished my dissertation! Yay! I hope you liked this chapter too.


	4. FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge and Kritaja encounter some trouble on the ship, while Han and Mara continue their trip through the woods.

The pull was so strong she couldn’t resist. She didn’t know what it was, but it was familiar and important. Her surroundings didn’t matter, nor the other presences that she could feel somewhere around. The pull was all that mattered, so she followed it step by step. Not stopping, not feeling anything else. It was so close! Few more steps and she would be there…

“Mrs. Solo?” her name and the hand on her arm snapped her back into the real world. Leia spun around, her other hand raised, ready to hit her attacker.

“Woa! Mrs. Solo! It’s me!” he cried and released her arm.

She stilled her hand and blinked at the man in front of her. Tall, red hair, glasses.

“Detective Melcon?” She stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

“No, what are _you_ doing out here wearing this!” Rys pointed at her clothes.

She looked around and noted with shock that she was out on the streets of Coruscant in the middle of the night wearing her night robe.

“I…I” Leia stuttered. She turned around slowly and another shock hit her when she noticed that she was standing few feet away from that cursed research facility building.

“Here! You must be freezing!” Rys got out of his coat and wrapped it around her. “Oh Force! Your feet are bleeding. My speeder is not far I’ll take you to the med center.

“Can you just take me home?” she asked. When did she start to shiver so badly? “I have a well-equipped med kit at home. That would be enough.”

Rys wanted to argue, but relented in the end. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and shepherded her towards his speeder. Damn, her feet hurt! After an eternity they reached the vehicle and she got in with a happy sigh.

“I can call your husband,” Rys offered as he started the speeder and turned the heating up.

“Don’t! Han is not on Coruscant now.” Leia leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

“Where is he?”

“He is checking up on something. “She mumbled.

“Please don’t fall asleep! It would be a hell to explain why I’m carrying you up to your apartment!” Rys asked with a sheepish laugh.

“It will be a hell to explain this too,” Leia muttered.

“You are a really lucky woman, you know!” Rys continued as he maneuvered the speeder through the heavy traffic of Coruscant. “It’s a miracle no one jumped you.

“Maybe the Force protected me.” She replied. Rys must have noticed her bitter tone because he frowned at her. She couldn’t care. The Force should have protected her brother when he needed it.

Rys parked the speeder in front of their building and helped her out of the vehicle. They were lucky, no one was up. After all it was really late. The lift ride was long and tiring, but after several minutes they stopped in front of her door.

“Would you like a caf?” Leia offered as she opened the apartment door.

“I shouldn’t stay. The last thing you need is a mean rumor.” Rys grinned sheepishly.

“We are the only ones on this floor and no one can tell from which floor you leave when you do. You saved me today, I can at least give you a cup of good caf!” Leia said sternly.

“Well, I do want to make sure you are okay…”

Rys followed her into the apartment. He asked where the med kit was and ordered her to sit down onto the couch. Few minutes later he came back with the box and sat down crossed-legged onto the rug in front of her.

“I need to get a kit like that!” he grinned as he opened the box.

“I can do it for myself,” Leia said and reached for the kit, but he gently waved her hands away.

“I’m pretty sure you could, but it’s easier and more efficient that way.”

Reluctantly she offered her feet to him and he sat out to work on her injuries. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up again.

“Can I ask what were you doing out there?” he asked without looking up.

Leia sighed and turned towards their huge window. “I can’t really tell. I had to go there. It felt like something was pulling me towards that building. I think I was sleep-walking.” she shrugged.

Rys frowned at her foot, but didn’t say anything. She turned a curious gaze at the top of his head.

“And you? What were you doing out there?”

“I’m on leave now.” he started. He put one last bacta patch onto her leg than rose to his feet. He moved to sit onto the couch as she thanked him.

“The Chief thought that all this took a lot out of me and I should rest.” he snorted showing what _he_ thought about all this.

“Maybe he is worried about you.” Leia offered.

Rys snorted again. “Right! I would believe that if I hadn’t seen him having a friendly chat with Niksal Serx before that.”

“Is he….?” Leia started, but Rys nod cut her off.

“Yeah. Icys Serx’s younger brother and the head of the Corellian law enforcement agency.”

Leia leaned back against the soft cushions of the couch. Here it goes again. Talvir Zactar and his gang. However, Rys didn’t notice her discomfort with the subject and continued his bitter story.

“I had a shouting match with the Chief and ended up on a month long forced leave. I was so outraged I couldn’t even sit still so I went out for a walk and somehow stumbled upon you. “he gave her another sheepish smile that couldn’t mask his bitterness.

Talvir Zactar is hurting people. That thought flashed through her mind and awoke something in her that had been dormant for a while now. Her fire. Zactar was hurting people and took her brother away from her. He wouldn’t get away with it! It was time to stop her melancholy and fight back!

“Detective Melcon. We have guestroom. Please go to sleep, we’ll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“What?” Rys gaped at her.

“You heard me!” she smiled that smile of hers that scarred the life out of Han and Luke all the time.  It worked on Melcon too. She got up and waved her hand towards the guestroom.

Her fire was awake again. People had been scarred that Luke would follow Vader’s footsteps one day. They knew nothing. She always had been the darker one.

Her feet didn’t hurt anymore.

***

Wedge sat on the top of the Falcon and watched the setting sun. He hoped that Jade and Solo reached the closest town by now. Though, he knew better. With a sigh he stood up, then with one last look at the darkening forest he climbed inside the ship through the top hatch. He found Ilren and Kritaja in the lounge area standing around the tiny cooker. By the look of it, Mrs. Lakrys was teaching the half-bothan how to cook. Triarrel’s frustrated expression showed perfectly how well it was going.

“Oh, Mr. Antilles! Are you hungry? We have plenty of fruits!” Ilren offered when she noticed him.

“No, thank you!" he smiled, then motioned towards the top hatch. "Chewbacca is still outside working on something. Where is the doc?”

“Sypet needed some alone time. And…” Ilren was cut off by the sound of Gibek’s tiny voice.

"Mommy!"

The little boy walked up to her mother while holding Lialana’s hand in his and effectively pulling her along. The albino girl kept herself close to the little boy and blinked at the three adults with huge red eyes.

Ilren kneeled in front of her son and gently placed her hands onto his shoulders. “What’s wrong, honey?"

“Lialana says that there is a bad man on the ship!” Gibeck announced.

 Wedge’shand automatically flew to his blaster. Kritaja did the same.

“No man, lizard!” Lialana added and leaned her head against Gibek’s back.

“Sweetie, where is he?” Kritaja urged her daughter gently. 

“Didn’t see. Felt it!”

Kritaja spun towards him with flashing eyes, clearly preparing for an argument. “There _is_ , someone else on the ship!”

“I know how force-sensitives work.” He replied with a smile, that turned into a grin when he saw Kritaja’s shocked face. He turned to Ilren who pulled the two kids close to herself.

“Where is your husband?”

“In the passenger sleeping area.”

“Okay, We’ll take the three of you there, then Ms. Triarrel and I check the ship.”

Wedge lead the way, while Kritaja covered them from behind. They reached the cabin without encountering anyone. Kritaja went in first. She explained Sypet what was happening in few hushed word, then she cleared the room quickly.

“Chewbacca!”Wedge whispered into his commlink. “There is someone else on the ship. No! Stay outside and keep your eyes open!”

“Keep the door closed!”Kritaja ordered the family in the cabin, then she shut the door after herself.

“Where do we start?” she hissed at Wedge.

“Cargo bay.”Wedge whispered back and started slowly towards the said destination. They locked up the Falcon as soon as Mara and Han left, so the only way outside was through the top hatch which was guarded by Chewbacca. So, there was no way out. To get to the cargo bay they had to walk over the secret compartments under the floor. He stopped Kritaja and while she stood guard, he opened them one by one. There was no sign of their intruder in any of them. Wedge started towards the cargo bay again while Kritaja followed him like a ghost. When they reached the heavy metal door, he entered the code that Han gave him at the start of their journey. They waited with their weapons raised for it to open. No one stood behind it.

Too bad. Have to do it the hard way. Wedge thought to himself. He motioned for Kritaja to stay at the door and after her nod he slowly walked inside. The cargo bay was full with cargo containers. He slowly made his way through that labyrinth. How he wished to be a force-sensitive in that moment. He stepped around a huge container and peeked behind it. Nothing. He was about to turn again when he saw something flashing through his upper peripheral visual field. However, before he could raise his blaster, something slammed against him from above and knocked the weapon out of his hand. He fell onto his back. Hands wrapped around his neck immediately. He gasped up at his attacker. It was a falleen. A very small one, but still very strong. He tried to pry the unforgiving hands off his neck, but they didn’t give.

“Hey!” He heard Kritaja’s angry shout. The hands gave a little and he pushed the falleen off himself. He gulped the precious air in and tried to move for his blaster. However, he felt something wash over his body. He didn’t want to hurt the falleen. He wanted to please the falleen.

Their attacker ran past them and his mind cleared a bit. He shook his head angrily.

“Kritaja!” he shouted at the half-bothan who was staring ahead with a dazed expression and flushed face. She too shook her head when his voice reached her.

“Kriffing falleen pheromones!” She spat and turned to chase after their attacker.

The fallen had a great head start, but his goal was predictable. The top hatch. They raced after him, but he still reached the hatch way before them and darted through it. The next thing they heard was his surprised cry. Wedge climbed up through the hatch and saw as Chewbacca held the falleen by his neck in the air. However, the falleen must have released another cloud of pheromones, because the wookiee staggered a little, then with a deafening roar he threw the falleen off the Falcon.

“Wow!”Kritaja muttered as she appeared next to Wedge.

“Never piss off a wookiee.”Wedge replied as he walked to the edge of the ship. Down the falleen started to get to his feet, but suddenly something jumped out of the woods. It was a four legged, black creature. Another four appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey!” Wedge shouted with alarm, but there was no time to do anything. It wasn’t like in the holodramas, where the monsters circle around you for minutes before attacking. These carnivores jumped on the falleen at the same time. The intruder's scream was cut short by one of the creatures that ripped his throat out.

Wedge had to turn away from the cruel scene. Next to him Kritaja raised her blaster and shot at the ground next to one of the creatures. It jumped away a little and turned its disturbing yellow eyes at them. Kritaja shot again and again till the animals gave up on their meal (not that a lot of things remained) and ran back into the woods.

“What are you doing?”Wedge asked. “He is dead!”

Kritaja let out a long-suffering sigh and gifted him with the king of eyerolls. “Don’t be stupid, please. First of all, he might had something in his pockets that might help us. Second, do you really want these things having a lovely meal here when you friends get back?”

“Well, that’s… reasonable.” Wedge offered. “So, who goes down to check?”

In the end, it was Chewbacca who went down. After all, he was a huge and scary wookiee, who was able to jump up onto the top of the Falcon if necessary. Problem solved. Chewbacca finished the search quickly. The falleen either didn’t have anything informative on him or the things ate it, he reported. The wookiee got back to them by climbing up on the ship and asked with a short rumble what to do now.

“Let’s get back inside, check on the others and maybe search the ships. That guy had to stay somewhere.” Wedge offered.

“Xeezzo Ded.” Kritaja replied.

“What?”

“His name was Xeezzo Ded. I’ve recognized him.” She said and she went through the hatch. Once everyone was inside, Chewbacca went to search the ship while the others checked on the other passengers. They opened the door to the cabin and managed to convince Spyet that he could put down that chair and allow them in. Lialana ran to her mother immediately and hugged her tightly. Once Kritaja managed to comfort her child, they put the two kids to sleep with Artoo watching over them and the adults sat down to talk in the lounge area.

“How did this man get on the ship?”Sypet asked nervously.

Kritaja sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Ilren immediately jumped to her feet and set out to make some caf.

“Xeezzo Ded was a falleen. His pheromones helped him out. He was a mercenary and a spy. Someone must have paid him to sabotage our investigation.” the half-bothan explained.

“But who knows about it?” Sypet ran a hand through his dark hair. “We haven’t told anyone!”

“Maybe it was your message to Han.” Wedge said thoughtfully. “After all Artoo got hold of it easily too.

“We should have encrypted it.” Kritaja huffed.

“We could add a lots of should haves to the list.”Wedge sighed.

***

Han woke to the sound of nature. Nothing tried to eat them during the night which he considered as a success. Mara was up already.

“Those things didn’t come back. So, it’s clear if you have to go down.” she said.

Well, he had to.

When he climbed back up onto the tree, Mara was waiting for him with Ilren’s homemade breakfast.

“How far can the next city be?” he asked grumpily.

“Not that far I guess.” Mara shrugged. “We should reach it today.”

“Well, I won’t sleep on a tree again!” He huffed and rolled his aching shoulder.

“You can sleep on the ground, you know!” Mara grinned at him.

Han rolled his eyes. “Lovely!”

They packed their stuff and set out again. This time they made sure to be as quiet as possible and kept the chatting at minimum.  The trees of Columus developed a horizontal root system to adapt to the shallow soil layer, which showed how amazing nature was. Just nature let out a tiny problem. It was extreme hard to get through those roots. His feet kept slipping and his boots got stuck again and again.

“Hey, do you see that!” Mara called out eagerly few feet in front of him.

He pulled his leg free with a grunt and walked up to her. “See what?”

“That!” she pointed at something ahead of them above the trees.

He saw it. Above the trees there was a city standing on pylons. He couldn’t have been happier.

“It’s not that far!” he said eagerly. “With this planet’s low-gravity, we will reach it today!”

Mara nodded with a smile. However, before they could take even one step, they heard the rustling of leaves behind them.

“Sith!” Mara breathed.  She spun around with her blaster raised, but her feet slipped on the roots and she fell onto her bottom. Though she still managed to fire her weapon and shot one of those carnivores. The animal fell onto the ground with a whine. 

“It’s just stunned!” Mara warned him as she got to her feet.  Han kept his blaster trained on the woods. The next attack didn’t come from the front, but from his left side.  He barely had time to spun around and fire. He hit the beast, but it still managed to push him off his feet as its dead-weight slammed against him.

“On your feet, Solo!” Mara shouted over the sound of her blaster’s fire. Han pushed the animal off himself and jumped to his feet and joined the fight again. More and more of the beasts appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“It’s not five! Why are there more than five?” he shouted as they were forced to back away from the things.

“Concentrate, Solo!” Mara snapped.

Suddenly loud rumbling of engine shook the forest. From above, a vehicle descended and its laser canon fired at the carnivores. The animals that survived the attack ran off into the forest, but several of them remained on the ground forever.  Han moved closer to Mara as the vehicle stopped in front of them. The side door of the ship (Han had never seen that model before) opened and a tall droid (Han never had seen that model before either) stepped out of it.

“I am H8DO. Please, introduce yourselves!” it said, when it stopped in front of them.

The droid was way too tall for Han’s liking. Probably, also way too armed. He decided to go with the truth this time.  “My name is Han Solo. Someone sabotaged my ship and we crash-landed on this planet.”

“Mara Jade, crash-landed too.” Mara added curtly when the droid turned its head towards her.  

“Very well. Please, come with me. My master would like to meet you.” The droid started back towards the ship. Han and Mara shared a quick look. The carnivores or the droid. In the end, they followed H8DO into the ship. At least there was only one of it.

There was another droid in the ship…

_To Be Continued!_

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is short again. I kinda have a writer"s block. So, if you liked this chapter or have some thoughts about this story, please share it with me. I think it would help. See you soon!


	5. FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things just getting even more complicated for Han.

  H8DO’s master was a Columi named Orae according to the droid. During the short flight from the woods towards the city Solo was asking about the creatures that attacked them in the woods. They were called treusks. Off-worlders left them on Columus decades ago and they ran wild in the woods. There was not enough food for them out there, that was why they would attack anyone. The Columi didn't eradicated them because of only one reason, that they provided a form of protection against unwanted visitors. It took a hell of a willpower not to snort at that. Mara tuned out the rest of H8DO’s speech and focused her attention onto the city they were flying over. It was huge and way too alien for her. There were new types of speeders criss-crossing among the buildings. The Columi’s technology was nothing she had ever seen before. Maybe she would mention them to Karrde. They really could use an alliance with these race. She glanced at the two identical droids in the ship. They could use one of that model too.

“We are here.” H8DO announced.

Their ship sat down in front of a huge white building. It was strange though that every window she could see was tinted. As they got out of the ship, she noticed that two another of H8DO’s kind was guarding the huge gateway.

“Follow me, please!” H8DO asked and the two of them obeyed with a nod. The house inside was just as megalomaniac as the outside. The walls were white and because of the tinted windows artificial light was used. The lack of furniture and decoration made it hard to guess the purpose of the building. H8DO led them into a hall, which had three-three rows of chairs on the sides. The droid asked them to wait for its master there and left them alone. 

“Charming!” Solo huffed and threw himself down onto one of the chairs.

“Behave!” Mara hissed with a glare. Her danger sense was warning her that someone was watching them. She couldn’t decide the exact intention of that person which made her uneasy. She studied her surroundings intently. The hall’s walls were white just like the whole building. The room had large tinted windows too, but they were placed way too high. She would probably be able to reach them with a force leap, but in case of danger that would mean leaving Solo behind. Which was sadly not an option. The hall had two doors, one that they walked through and was guarded by two droids from the outside, and another one opposite of it which through H8DO departed. She turned her attention to the chairs. They looked movable. She pushed one with her foot. Yes, they were movable. That and the fact that they still had their weapons on themselves gave them a chance.

She felt a little flicker in the Force and she spun towards the door which through H8DO disappeared. Solo jumped to his feet without a word. The door opened and H8DO returned followed by a Columi in a mental hoverpod. They had another companion too.

“Karrde?” Mara gaped at her boss in shock which turned into a glare in a second.

“What are you doing here?”

Karrde grinned at his right-hand man. “Your manners, Mara! Let me introduce Orae.”

The Columi made a tiny notion with his huge head. He watched them lengthily with his big, black, unblinking eyes . It sent shivers down on Mara’s back.

“Welcome to my house!” Orae greeted them. “Now, if you excuse me, I have many things to attend to. H8DO is at your disposal. Feel free to ask for whatever you need.”

"Thank you for your help!” Karrde gave a polite little nod to the Columi who returned the gesture. After Orae left them alone, Karrde turned to them with a raised eyebrow.

“So… What’s going on?” Solo asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Very good question.” Mara huffed. She crossed her arms and kept her glare on her face.

Karrde grinned at them and moved to sit down onto one of the chairs. “Well, there is no big mystery here. I’m here because of the contract I’ve just signed with Orae.”

“He seems like a nice guy,” Solo commented sarcastically. Mara saw his point. She didn’t like Orae’s frosty attitude either. Actually, it was damn right rude. 

“He is a Columi. He doesn’t like offwordlers.” Karrde waved away their concerns. “Actually, you can thank your lives to him. His sister would have preferred to shoot you while you were still falling.”

“You saw that?” Mara asked.

“I’ve never seen such a detailed security system like Orae’s.” Karrde nodded.

“You should have done something!” Solo glared.

“I did! I’ve convinced Orae to help you. You were lucky by the way to land on his territory. As I said, Orae’s sister had a whole other idea about trespassers.”

“So why did it take so long to find us?” Mara asked still glaring.

“Your manners, Mara!” Karrde warned her again. “We actually found the Millenum Falcon during the night and transported the ship onto the Wild Karrde. Well, you two were harder to find out there.”

Solo seemingly had a heart-attack hearing that his precious ship had been transported without him knowing about it. He bombarded Karrde with questions about the ship, their passengers and the ship again. Mara needed a few minutes to collect her thoughts. It pissed her off that she hadn’t known about this contract, though she had an idea why. However, she had to push her anger away to concentrate on more important things.

“Can we leave Columus now?” she asked cutting off Solo’s mini panic-attack.

“Orae would love that.” Karrde nodded.

“Him and me. So, let’s go!” Solo started for the door.

H8DO appeared seemingly out of nowhere and lead them to the hangar where one of Karrde’s ship was waiting for them. Karrde thanked the droid again its and its master’s help and apologized for the inconvenience they had caused. One of Karrde’s pilots was in the cockpit and started the ship as soon as her boss stepped into the vehicle.

“Our mechanics are working on your ship with the help of Chewbacca.” Karrde told Solo. “Your friends have an interesting story to share too. I’ve sent Aves for Ghent, they will join us tomorrow.”

They arrived onto the Wild Karrde half hour later. Karrde led them to his private briefing room where Antilles and Triarrel were waiting for them. Antilles told them what happened on Columus after they had left the ship. Chewbacca had found Ded’s stuff in one of the Falcon’s overhead compartments. He had hidden three holodisks there. All three encrypted.

“Life day for Ghent!” Karrde smiled.

Mara listened to the others with a stoic silence. When all stories were told and it was clear there was nothing to do till Ghent’s arrival, she excused herself. She had her own quarters on the Wild Karrde, so she retreated there. After a quick sonic shower, she slumped down onto her bed and buried her face into her hands.

“I’m screwing things up, Luke,” she murmured silently.

No answer came from the man. Of course.

She lied down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She should have slept, but she couldn’t. These had been the times when Luke would have sat down next to her and started one of his kind motivational talks. They were stupid, but had made her feel better nonetheless. There was no pep talk for her this time though. But... she could imagine it. She closed her eyes and pictured the blond man next to herself. Once she had managed to convince him to put a white shirt on. It had fitted him better than the constant black. Her imaginary Luke wore that shirt.

“I’m an idiot!” she told the missing Jedi.

The illusion smiled at her and his hand found its way into her hair. _“You are not.”_

“I am. It didn’t even occur to me to check the ship for the intruder. He could have hurt the kids.” she whispered her worries. “And I left them alone.”

_“Wedge is a very capable soldier.”_ the illusion smiled. _“And there was Chewie and the smuggler too. You used the information you had well.”_  

“Well is not enough. Only perfect is acceptable.” She repeated one of her mottoes. “And you are forgetting the fact that I didn’t notice an intruder on the ship. I didn’t check for an intruder. It’s not even well anymore.”

The illusion gave her one of Luke’s trademark ‘ _You have ten seconds to rethink this. I’m counting!’_ look. So, she rethought her situation. Luke always insisted that you have to keep what’s the most important firmly in front of you. So, what was the most important?

She turned her head and gazed at the illusion’s face. Those kind blue eyes, the jewels of the desert as liked to nickname them secretly were waiting for her.

“I’m coming for you, okay?” she whispered. “I’m coming and you better hold on till I get to you, okay?”

The illusion smiled. Then he disappeared.

She let out a shaky breath. This time she felt lucky that the tears never came. It was a pity Leia hated her. She had gone through something similar when Solo was trapped in carbonite. She could use an advice or two how to function properly in times like this. Now, how to function now! She corrected herself. The moment she has her hand on the Jedi, she cocoons him and locks him up in a fortress.

Did Leia have similar comic thoughts too?

 ***

Han sat on a container and watched as the mechanics worked on the Falcon. He didn’t like the fact that strangers even touched his precious ship, but he had to admit that Karrde’s men were good. That and according to Chewie one of them nearly cried when he had seen Han’s own repairs.  One of the mechanics told him that the wookiee was a good enough supervisor and he should just rest somewhere else. Maybe on the other end of the Wild Karrde. Probably, he shouldn’t have nagged them so much.

“Solo!”

He turned towards the source of the voice and saw Jade walking towards him. She had a reputation on the ship, Han noted. The crew moved out of her way respectfully. It showed her devotion to her work perfectly.

Jade stopped next to him and gave the Falcon a critical glance.

“When will she be ready?”

“According to the chief mechanic she will be as good as new tomorrow.” he replied. “Did something happen?”

She didn’t reply first. She just stared at the Falcon for a few seconds, then she visibly collected herself. “I’ve just spoke to Karrde. He told me we are free to go the minute your ship is ready. I want to go back to Coruscant. Check out Lakrys’ idea.”

To find the portal and get to Luke. Han translated for himself. He shared the sentiment.

“Good plan!”

Han nearly fell off the container when Wedge spoke up closely behind him. He glared at the other Corellian and Jade who both burst out laughing.

“I talked with Triarrel.” Wedge continued addressing Mara. “She would like to stay here with her daughter.  She can help out with the information your slicer might find.”

Jade nodded. “I don’t see a problem with it. I’ll consult with Karrde.”

“Thank you!” Wedge smiled.

“Ilren and Gibek will stay here too.” Jade added. “Lakrys will come with us to Coruscant. He has an idea about the radiation, which is a really good news because he has still no idea where the other end of the portal could be.”

“So no getting around it, but through it.” Han sighed. “So much fun!”

After that they talked about the arrangement that needed to be done for their journey. Mara excused herself after a while claiming that she had to speak to Karrde about Triarrel and her daughter. A sudden yawn of Wedge drew Han’s attention to the visible fatigue on the younger Corellian’s face. He berated himself for not noticing it before, after all he knew well that Wedge didn’t have a chance to sleep since their crash-landing. It took a little nagging, but he managed to convince Antilles to go and rest. That left him sitting on the container alone again.   

It was time to catch up on his thoughts finally. There was chaos in his mind, which he had no idea how he would short out, so he started with the others. Wedge had been unshakable in his beliefs ever since the start of their journey.  He had always known that the Rouges had an undeniable faith in the young Jedi. After all they had followed him into impossible battles for a reason. Maybe Han’s main problem was that Wedge managed to do what he, Luke’s best friend and more or less adopted brother couldn’t, to believe that Luke could manage another miracle.

There was Mara too, who after meeting Luke had gone from ‘I’ll kriffing kill you’ to ‘I’ll turn the Galaxy upside-down for you’. Han snorted to himself. Skywalkers were dangerous. They turned not so good guys into good guys in seconds. Really, him, Lando, the ewoks (though they weren’t bad guys exactly, but wanted to eat them so that counts too), Mara, Karrde and even Vader. It was actually scary, but reassuring at the same time. It gave them a powerful allies and on the personal level, hope. Maybe that was what drove Mara so badly. Luke had had an impact on her life even before they personally had met and after that they had shaped each other’s life significantly. They had become dependent on each other and suddenly Luke had been ripped away. If Han was lost, he couldn’t imagine what Mara could be going through.

Maybe Leia knows. He thought to himself. Another hard topic, his wife. He remembered clearly the minute when Leia had woken up after her seizures and had told him that she couldn’t feel her brother anymore. She hadn’t spoken after that for days. Even when they had been searching for the lost Jedi, she had mostly stayed out of it. She had given up already. Maybe that had such an effect on him too. Leia had never given up on anything before. Not on the Death Star, not on the pilots in the Battle of Yavin, not on them out in the deadly night of Hoth, not on him while he had been put in carbon-freeze, not on Luke on the second Death Star and not on them on Endor. But she had given up this time.

That brought the circle back to himself. What did he believe in? He had searched day and night for his friend. He had personally gone against Zactar despite the senate’s disapproval. However, when Leia had said enough he had stopped. He had prepared for and gone through the ceremony. Then the next day he had been on his way towards Bellassa, because Lakrys had called. So, what did he believe in? He sat staring at the Falcon for who knows how long, but he still couldn’t answer that question. However, he found the answer to another question. He knew what he _wanted._

His thoughts were broken by one of the mechanics who marched towards him.

“Captain Solo! The communication system received a message for you.” he told him as soon as he reached him.

“Who sent it?” he asked as he rose to his feet.

“It came from someone called, Icys Serx.” The mechanic didn’t notice how Han stiffened when he heard the name. He personally never met the man, so what did he want from him know?

“Get me Jade!” he ordered and left the confused mechanic behind.

***

Lando Calrissian stormed out of the lift that finally arrived to the Solo-Skywalker floor. He hurried through the longue area, he stepped into the wide corridor which from the three apartments opened and stopped in front of the door on the right. He consciously ignored the door on the left. He pressed the buzzer and waited seemingly patiently for the door to open. When it did, he came face-to-face with Leia’s golden protocol droid.

“Oh, Mister Calrissian! What a great surprise to see you!” Threepio greeted him and invited him inside. Lando blinked at the surprise part, because Leia specifically called him this morning, but he knew better than saying something like that to the noisy protocol droid.

He followed Threepio into the apartment. He stopped as soon as he stepped into the living-room. It was a mess. Datapads, datacards, holodisks covered every surface available. Among them sitting on the floor he spotted a familiar man. Detective Melcon blinked up at him with tired eyes. His characteristic sheepish smile appeared on his narrow face as he waved at him.

“Mr. Calrissian! Good morning!”

“You can call me Lando, Rys!” he told the younger man not the first time since he had known him. “What’s going on?”

Rys scratched the back of his head, then looked up hesitantly. “You should ask Mrs. Solo.”

“You can call me Leia, you know!” she said as she strode into the living-room with a datapad in her hand. “Oh, Lando! Good to see you! I’m so happy that you got here so fast!”

“It’s my pleasure!” Lando grinned as he accepted Leia’s hug happily. His game-face helped him out this time too. Personally, he found Leia’s appearance worrisome. She was dressed in all black (which he shouldn’t complain about considering the situation and his own dark clothing too), she wore no makeup and her long dark hair was held back in one long braid. All of these looked so strange on her. She reminded him of Luke after the events of Bespin.

“How are you?” he asked gently, when she pulled back.

“I’m fine!” she shrugged. She turned away and walked further into the living-room. “Please, take a seat!”

He sat down onto the couch next to her and repeated his question. “What’s going on?”

“I need your help with something.” she said and gave him her datapad.  He read through the official text in front of them. He frowned when he understood what he was reading.

“You want to have a claim on the research facility?” he asked incredulously.

Leia nodded curtly, then slowly a humorless smile formed on her lips. “It would be an appropriate gift for me after my loss, don’t you think?”

Lando slowly lowered the datapad and glanced at the detective who stayed quiet during this conversation. Melcon shrugged at him and turned back to whatever he had been doing.

“What is this about?” Lando asked.

“Talvir Zactar. All of it is about him.” Leia said finally. She stood up and started pacing around in the room expertly avoiding every bit of data-something that slipped onto the floor. Pacing, a nervous habit that she picked up from Han, Lando noted.

“I thought that Zactar is considered innocent regarding the Taen case. You even signed the report personally.”

Taen was the given name of the monster. It was an old word in basic for shadow. The press made the creature the new boogieman of the Galaxy. It had become another horror story, another monster under the bed of the little ones. He thought the name fitted.

“Maybe I haven’t seen things clearly. After all it’s been a hard few weeks for me.” Leia answered. The tone of her voice created a sudden unease inside him. Was she…

“Is this about revenge?” He asked.

Leia must have noticed his disapproval in his question, because she straightened her back and held her chin high. Her princess posture he noted.

“The Taen caused so much pain and loss. Therefore, those who suffered the most should be entitled to some compensation. I put out a claim on the factory and turn it into something that would serve the New Republic better.” she said with that strange smile.

“You want to antagonize Zactar.” Lando stated. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the datapad again. Maybe he should contact Han. This felt like reckless danger.

“You are an excellent businessman, Lando.” Leia spoke again. “I need help and you are the one that I trust. Will you help me?”

Lando sighed and picked up the datapad again. Of course he would help. He could never say no to a lady, especially a Skywalker. However, he still felt the need to contact Han. Even if it meant going behind Leia’s back. 

***

Han turned off the communication system when the message was over. It wasn’t long or anything specific. Just a request. Serx wanted to meet with him on Corellia. He glanced at Mara who looked back at him with an unreadable expression.

“You are not considering it, right?” she asked.

He shrugged and turned away from her. “It could be important. Corellia is not that far from here. We should go.”

“We have to go to Coruscant!” Mara hissed angrily. “We have wasted so much time already! Time that Luke doesn’t have!”

“Mara,” he sighed, but before he could say anything else, she cut him off again.

“Do not Mara me!” she hissed. “Even if you don’t believe me, but you can’t trust Serx! You shouldn’t even listen to a word he says! This,” she motioned at the communication system, “is just delaying us.”

“This is the first time one of them contacted us.” Han shot back.  “This could mean information!”

“Ded must have known about the holodisk Triarrel stole from Serx. And if Ded knew about it, than Serx must know about it! You do understand what that means, right?”

Han grinned at her. “It means he probably screws up!”

Mara gaped at him. Her tone gave away her incredulity. “You are planning to walk into a trap consciously?”

Han’s grin grew even bigger. “It’s better than unknowingly!”

Mara’s face suddenly closed up and her professional mask slipped into place in front of his eyes. He sighed softly knowing he just lost her.

“I can’t follow you there. I have to go to Coruscant. Can you understand?” That last question was a soft plea.  He heard the emotion behind it and he could understand it.

He sighed. “I do understand. But,” he glanced at her face. “I’d prefer if you stayed with us.”

She shook her head sadly. “I’ll take Lakrys to Corsucant. We’ll find a way into the facility and who knows…”

She shrugged and turned to leave, but he stopped her by saying her name.

“Contact Leia. She will help. I’ll send a message, so she’d know what’s going on. Can you please get Wedge? He needed some sleep, but he also needs to know what’s going on.”

She nodded and left the Falcon without another word. Han sat down into the pilot chair. He blinked tiredly out at the busy crew of the Wild Karrde, who were moving up and down outside of his ship constantly. Watching the never ending movement was oddly hypnotic.

“Luke, I could use an advice or two.” he whispered to himself. However, just like that time when he watched the lanterns during the ceremony, no answer came.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, not the best, but it will get better soon. I promise.


	6. SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serx reveals his plans to Han and Wedge. Leia continues her crusade against Senator Zactar. Mara arrives to Coruscant with Dr. Lakrys.

Wedge watched the planet through the viewport as they approached it. Corellia… It’d been a while. He had mixed feelings about coming back home and a glance at Solo confirmed that he wasn’t the only one. Han’s face was a mask of concentration as his hands flew from one button to the other on the consoles, but the younger Corellian saw the tension in the actions. Wedge had already spoken to Traffic Control and they got their clearance to land on the planet which Hand and Chewbacca did expertly as usual.

He took a deep breath as he stepped off the ramp of the ship. The smell of the ocean invaded his nostrils and filled up his lungs. Another wave of mixed feelings assaulted him. He shook his head. _Concentrate, Wedge!_

“This is the location Serx gave us.” Han spoke as he stepped next to him. He held a small datapad in his hand. “We will need to get a speeder.”

Wedge looked around with a frown, but no he couldn’t see their wookiee friend coming out of the Falcon.

“What about Chewbacca?” he asked. 

“He stays here.” 

“What?”Wedge was aware that his voice was a notch higher than it should have been, but considering that they were about to leave their ace-card behind, he thought it was acceptable.

It turned out Han had his own reasons too.

“He needs to stay on the Falcon,” he started explaining, “because in case of trouble air-support might be good.”

Well he could agree with that.

Serx had chosen an old wooden house on the black gold beaches of the equatorial regions. They had left the Falcon on Tyrena and continued their journey with rented speeder-bikes. It till took an hour to reach their destination. Here the coast was covered by ancient volcanic silica, which dark colors showed high contrast against the golden colored sand of the other part of the Golden Beaches. Their speeder-bikes stirred up the dark sand as they approached their destination.

Han lead him to a rocky area not far from the wooden house, where they parked their speeder-bikes and hid them as best as they could.  

“What’s the plan?” Wedge asked as he studied the wooden house through his binoculars.

“Nothing special. We go in, find out what Serx wants and hope that he reveals something important.” Han shrugged. He ignored Wedge’s incredulous look and started towards the building.

“You coming?” he called back when he noticed that the other Corellian didn’t move, but continued to gape at him.

Wedge huffed with annoyance, but slipped the binocular into his bag and jumped off the rock.

“We gonna get ourselves killed.” He muttered under his breath, but Han ignored that too.

There was only dark sand between them and the house and Wedge felt exposed as they approached it. It was a two-storey building with several windows, a balcony and a veranda. Wedge couldn’t see anyone, but who knew who could have been hiding in the bushes or trees next to and behind the house. How he wished for Luke to be with them! But he wasn’t. That was the point of that Stars forsaken kriffing journey.

They reached the building and stepped onto the veranda Han first, followed by Wedge. There was no one there, but he felt the hair stand on the back of his neck and knew that someone was watching them. He caught Han’s eyes and with a nod to each other they drew their blasters. The front door was unlocked and Han pushed it open carefully.

“Icys Serx?”Solo called out and stepped inside carefully.

The front door opened into a relatively big gallery. The opposite wall was substituted by a floor-to ceiling window. Icys Serx stood in front of it.

“Captain Solo! Commander Antilles. What a pleasure to meet you personally!” The man’s voice was cold which cast a dark shadow onto his pleasant words.

He was tall and still had an athletic build even though he was middle aged. Nearly sixty according to his file. A strong hair product kept his shoulder length so-grey-that-it-was-actually-white hair out of his strict face. His blue eyes were light blue and cold as Hoth. His posture screamed military (or even Imperial).

In brief, Wedge and Han were reluctant to lower their blasters. They did actually, but it was hard.

“Serx!”Han nodded at the man as a greeting. Wedge decided to keep quiet and allowed the older Correllian to lead the conversation.

“You wanted to speak to me.” Han added. “So?”

“I asked you here to discuss a really important matter.” Serx started. “Please, take a seat!”

Both of them refused the offer as politely as they could and Serx remained on his feet too.

“As you know, our Galaxy entered into a very dangerous stage. The balance is fragile and new conflicts will arise soon. This New Republic is failing miserably. A new war will break out if we don’t do something against it. This Galaxy needs a capable man to lead it out of that chaotic pit. You, gentlemen, have the influence and reputation to help the public accept this new leader and make them see what’s best for them.”

Wedge gaped at the man who dared to stand in front of them and offer… this!

“You are actually proposing another emperor?” he hissed outraged.

“Palpatine’s original idea was a good one.” Serx replied calmly. “The Galaxy was at peace during his reign. Now though just look around! Conflict after conflict spreads. The Treschyt and the Yiszte are jumping at each other’s throats again. There are reports of suspicious Mandalorian groups in the Outer Rim. Hut crime lords are trying to archive what Jabba did. Children are kidnapped from Core Planets to be enslaved. These are just a few examples. And what does the New Republic do? Mostly nothing! They offer protection, but there are not enough ships and troops to do any actual protecting. Several planets existence depends on trading, but the economy is declining. A crisis is imminent.”

“We are aware of the problems and the Senate is constantly working on solutions!” Han shot back, his voice cold.

"Ha! The Senate!” Serx laughed sardonically. “You may not remember what the Senate was like before Palpatine’s reign. How corrupt it was! And what did we do after the war? We put the same corrupt senators back to power. Neet Ro for example has fancy personal bank account with huge amount of credits and no one knows hot it got there. Shiwab Krealiff and Isaary Hugslym, Borsk Fey’lya just to mention a few examples. Even the beloved Lainris Vasu had some questionable contracts. Do you really want these people to rule your world? Captain Solo, you have a child. Do you really want him to grow up in a corrupt Galaxy?”

Wedge took a sharp breath. Mentioning Ben was a low blow. He glanced at his friend and saw the danger in those hazel eyes.  

“What I want for my son,” Han spoke dangerously quietly. “is a chance to grow up in a free world and not as a slave under a tyrant.”

Serx sighed. “I’ve definitely asked too much of you. Too soon. But there is nothing to worry about. You’ll have a chance to think everything through and I’m certain that eventually you’ll understand my motives.”

Wedge saw something move in the corner of his eye. A glance verified that someone was moving in the shadow of the staircase nearly behind Han. He grabbed the older man’s arm and pushed him out of the way just as their hidden attacker fired a stun bolt at him. Unfortunately for Wedge, he had no time to get to safety himself and his world turned into bright blue, then dark.

When the next time he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the wooden ceiling of the house. At least he was laying on something soft. When he turned his head to the left he found himself facing the backrest of the couch. He tried the other side and indeed the sight was much more interesting. Serx lay on his stomach on the ground, his hands bound together behind his back with a rope just like his legs. He had a nice little cloth in his mouth, although he was still unconscious.

Wedge heard someone walk in from somewhere and he allowed himself a grin. “So, you still a good marksman!”

“An excellent one!” Han corrected as he walked into his line of sight. “Although, Chewie helped too.”

“Chewie…”Wedge mused. “Didn’t he stay with the Falcon.”

“He brought the Falcon here.” Han huffed. “Overprotective wookiee always takes matters into his own hands. There were five others if you are interested.”

“Still alive?”

Han nodded. “Chewie is loading them into the Falcon. We take the whole kriffing group back to Coruscant.”

The older Corellian shot a funny look at him, that made Wedge raise his eyebrow in question.

“That was…”Han trailed off and cleared his throat. “Thank you!”

Wedge grinned at the awkward gratitude, then sat up gingerly. “Welcome, but please don’t make it a habit. Can we go now?”

“We won’t even stop till Coruscant! According to Lando my wife decided that it’s a good idea to piss off Zactar.”Han announced and strode out of the room.

“Why? It isn’t?”

“Not when I’m not around!”

 ***

Leia leaned over a datapad behind her desk, when Lando stepped into her office. She glanced up expectantly at the dark-skinned man.

“This just came in. From Talvir Zactar personally.” he announced brightly.

“Thank you!” she smiled as she took the datapad that was offered by the man. Indeed, it contained a really long message from the Corellian senator. She took her time as she read it carefully. She noted with satisfaction that she managed to push Zactar into a corner. She had brought her claim in front of the Senate. She had explicated in detail what she planned to do with the research facility. The New Republic needed medicine after the long war and the Emperor hadn't been famous for sharing the newest drugs. The ones for healing of course. The Senate liked the idea of a new facility for drug development.

She had found a useful partner in Leva Kotal, the first assistant and heir of the late Lainris Vasu. The Twi'lek woman had several ideas and got several supporters on their side. Lando was indestructible in the business world which was also in their favour.

Zactar was in a bad situation and that message was a good indicator how bad it was exactly. He had offered up another, newer, bigger and better equipped building in their close vicinity.

“So? Wat do you think?” Lando asked eagerly.

“I won’t accept.” Leia said and handed the databad back.

“What? Why?” the man gaped at him.

“He wants that building.” Leia explained patiently. “He wants it bad. Don’t you think it’s strange that he would rather give up a building with higher value for this one? I find it really strange and therefore I can’t let him keep it.”

Lando groaned exasperatedly and sank down onto the chair opposite of her desk. “I think you should go with this one. I’m pretty sure the Senate will agree with me. You shouldn’t be pushing your luck.”

“I have really good arguments.” Leia smiled kind of devilishly. “Zactar won’t stand a chance.”

“It’s not the point!” Lando argued exasperatedly. “You shouldn’t be pissing off someone like him. Believe me!”

There was a soft knock on the door and Winter entered after Leia had invited her in.

“Leia. The meeting starts in a half hour.” she said.

“Thank you, Winter!” Leia smiled. She turned her blazing gaze back at her friend as she rose to her feet. “I’ll get that facility, just watch me!”

Lando sighed in defeat as she walked out of the office.

***

“Aaaaand! Finished!” Ghent cried out happily announcing his success. Karrde moved next to the young man.

“So? What’s in there?” he asked.

Kritaja Triarrel, who overlooked the whole process moved closer too. Her sharp eyes waited impatiently for the information. The three of them held this small meeting in one of Karrde’s private briefing rooms. Karrde alloved the half-bothan in there because Mara and Antilles thought her to be trustworthy. Karrde had kept a close eye on her during Triarrel'a stay on the Wild Karrde and as long you left her daughter alone, she proved herself to be a good company. She had paid for their stay with information which was surprisingly useful even for him.    

“Lot’s of files” Ghent reported eagerly. “Some holo-videos, sound-recordings, notes.”

He pushed several buttons on the table and the holo-projector came to life. He started one of the videos, in which a man dressed in military uniform Correllian style fought against a horrible creature. He had lost. Karrde slammed a hand onto a button and the projector shut down. Ghent looked ill and Kritaja’s features had tightened.

“Stars! That was horrible!” Ghent wheezed and rubbed his eyes harshly.

Karrde ignored the young man’s distress and concentrated on his own rushing thoughts.

“These recordings… I think these are the exact same once that were lost in the second explosion.” he muttered to himself. “Ghent! Comb through the files and find a connection between them and Senator Talvir Zactar!”

“On it!” Ghent gave a mock salute. “Just don’t make me watch another one!”

“We have to get these to Solo and Lakrys.” Kritaja told him.

“We will.” Karrde nodded. He activated his commlink on his wrist and ordered the crew to take the Wilde Karrde to Coruscant.

"Can I?" the half-bothan asked and waved at the holo-projector. Karrde considered her for a moment, but decided to go with his instincts and nodded at the woman. 

Kritaja sat down into a chair and asked Ghent to transfer the holo-videos onto a datacard. She volunteered to watch them all, maybe she would find something.

 

***

Mara landed the borrowed shuttle carefully. Through the viewport she could see a tall read-haired man standing next to the door of the docking bay. She waved at the man and got a greeting back the same way.

“Who’s that?” Lakrys asked distrustfully as he narrowed his eyes at the man.

“He is Detective Rys Melcon,” Mara replied as she shut down the shuttle. “He is on our side.”

“You sure?” Lakrys asked. He fumbled with the straps, but eventually managed to free himself.

“As much as you trust Triarrel.” Mara smiled.

“In that case, absolutely!” Sypet seemed actually cheerful after the confirmation. He grabbed his backpack and waited for Mara to open the ramp. They walked up to Melcon who introduced himself to Lakrys and explained to the scientist that they had actually met before, just Lakrys had been in catatonic state.

“Mrs. Solo asked me to drive you to her home. The speeder is outside. Do you want to go somewhere else before that?” the detective asked.

“We could rest and refresh ourselves on the shuttle. We are good to go.” Mara said.

They followed the detective out of the docking bay and the three of them got into the speeder. Despite the heavy traffic, they reached the apartment building quickly. A strange melancholic feeling took over Mara when they entered the lifts. She hadn’t visited Luke here often. Two or three times on top. The reason had been her strained relationship with Leia. She didn’t want to cause unnecessary drama for Luke. It had gone so-so.

She stepped out of the lift after Melcon and Lakrys. Her gaze drifted to the door on the left as the detective led them to the Solo- apartment and entered the code. Mara tore her eyes away from the familiar sight and tried to concentrate.

“Oh, Detective Melcon! Thank you for bringing guests! Ms. Jade, Dr. Lakrys, please come inside and make yourself at home!” Threepio’s familiar voice filled the whole floor. Mara tried hard not to think about the night when Luke explained to the protocol droid that Mara was friend and there was no need to scream for help.

_Concentrate!_

She turned her attention back to her surroundings. This was not what she had been expecting of the Solo-apartment. She had thought it to be tidy and fancy. Well, it was fancy, but not tidy at all. Actually, there was such a mess in the living-room that she had felt immediately less ashamed of the stated of her quarters on the Wilde Karrde.

Melcon stopped in the middle of the living-room. There were datacards and used mugs on the ground and on the caf-table. He scratched the back of his head and looked around with a grimace.

“Sorry about the mess. It’s mostly my doing.” He said sheepishly.

“What are you working on?” Mara asked. She made her way through the labyrinth of datacard and sat down onto one of the armchairs. She shot up immediately and pried a datapad out of the cushions.

“Oh! I’ve been looking for that!” Rys laughed and took it from her outstretched hand. “I mostly do research work. Actually, I’m on forced leave, bur Mrs. Solo allowed me to work from here. Her Holo-Net connection is awesome!”

“Your research?” Maras probed. She watched as Lakrys made his way to the couch, examined the cushions thoroughly, then sat down with a happy sigh. Instantly his smile turned into a frown, then he fished a datacard out from under his bottom.

“I’m trying to find out what Senator Zactar is hiding. Right now, I’m tracking his money transfers. There are some strange things in those, but nothing incriminating. Yet. Whoever is removing the traces is good.”

Mara hummed to herself. Maybe they should look into that too with the help of Ghent.

A warning from the Force interrupted her train of thoughts. She felt two presence approaching. She rose to her feet slowly just as the front door opened and Leia Organa and Lando Calrissian walked into the apartment. Lando froze when he saw Mara and glanced at Leia with alarm.

“Dr. Lakrys! I'm so glad you came back and help so much! It means a lot to me that there are still people out there who care so much!” The Princess shook hands with the scientist who accepted the gratitude awkwardly. After that there was an uncomfortable moment, but then Leia turned to Mara and offered her hand.

“Ms. Jade. I haven’t thanked you yet for saving my life. And… I would like to apologize for my behavior.”

Mara blinked at the woman, but accepted the hand.

“It was the least I could do.” she replied softly. “And please, call me Mara!”

Leia’s smile grew a little. “Than it’s Leia to you too.”

Mara took a shuddering breath when Leia let go of her hand and turned back to the men. The Princess’ apology had been true. However, under the layers of Leia’s personality something dark was forming. Something very familiar. She had felt it in Luke too. However, while Luke was a supernova in the Force, Leia always reminded her of the blazing fire of an erupting volcano. The two flames similar, but still different. Mara feared that Leia’s fire would be more compatible with the Dark Side, than Luke’s.

Mara took another deep breath and made a silent vow to herself. Leia shared a huge amount of DNA with Luke… and that kind of made her Mara’s responsibility too. She would stick to this twin and keep her in the Light till they get back the other one. 

It was the least she could do...

To Be Continued!   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These last few chapters were really hard to write, but the final part of the story is approaching. Hope you'll like it!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story ends here...

The journey back to Coruscant was long and annoying. He had called Rieekan and Madine the moment the Falcon left Corellia, but before they entered hyperspace and had briefed them of the events.  He had been ordered to take Serx and his troops back to Coruscant to be questioned by High Command of the Alliance of Free Planets. Easier said than done!  You don’t know hell till you try taking a bunch of prisoners on a journey that takes more than one day. They needed food and fresher brakes. However, that was not the worst, but the way they kept complaining during the whole kriffing trip. Even Wedge’s patience ran out by the time they arrived back to the Capital Planet. The only exception was Serx himself, who didn’t say more words than necessary since he had woken up.

Han thought about kissing the ground when he stepped out of his ship after landing. Instead he had the chance to kiss his wife as Leia rushed to meet with him. He didn’t care about Mon Mothma, Madine, Rieekan and their troopers, he held Leia in a tight embrace till she gently freed herself.

Mon Mothma greeted them kindly, but there was worry in her blue eyes. She led them into her personal office in the Imperial Palace. In the meantime, Chewbacca oversaw as Madine’s men lead the prisoners out of the Falcon and put them into a high-security prisoner transporter. Madine promised that he would personally interrogate each one of them.  Han and Wedge briefed the others of their journey. At least most of it. They left out some information of Triarrel, like the fact that she had stolen a holo-disk from Serx and the fact that her daughter was a Force-sensitive.  Han handed over the recording he made secretly during their meeting with Serx. It was incriminating enough on its own.

“However, he never mentioned Zactar.” Han ended his report with a grimace.

“Maybe Senator Zactar has nothing to do with this.” Rieekan offered. “Maybe Serx wanted the glory to himself.”

Han shook his head. “Serx’s not the kind of man who takes the lead. He is a soldier at heart. He follows orders. But he is loyal too. I don’t think he would intentionally reveal anything against the man he serves.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can get out of him.” Madine rose to his feet.

After is departure Mon Mothma ended their little meeting, but not before warning the Solo family and their friends to be careful.

“I don’t want to lose more of my dearest friends.” she said sadly.

Han knew well that she was reffering to Luke’s ‘death’, but it was not the time and the place to sink into misery. He said his goodbyes to the older woman and herded his wife and Wedge out of the office. Outside the Rogue pilot parted from them promising to come over later that night. The couple took Leia’s speeder home. Despite Leia’s warning, the mess in their apartment startled Han.

“Whoa! Who let the rancor in?” he gaped at their living-room. 

Leia walked past him straight into the kitchen and started the caf-maker. Her dark clothes made a stark contrast against the light colors of the kitchen.

“There was no rancor, just Rys and Lando. Though,” she turned around and pointed at their dining-table and the mess on it. “That had been Lakrys and Mara.”

She finally managed to say Mara’s name without that angry undertone she used to have. That made Han smile. She finally seemed to accept the woman.

“Now that you mention them. Where are they?” he asked.

“They spend most of their time in my research facility.” she said and she prepared the two mugs. 

Han accepted one of them as he leaned against the kitchen counter. Now, that was another sensitive topic.

“So, you did get that facility.” he started carefully.

Leia’s face brightened somewhat. “Yes, I did. The Senate thought this step would right the moral of Coruscant too.”

Sighing he lowered his mug. “I just wish that you waited long enough for me to return.”

She regarded him sternly over her steamy mug. “Han! I can take care of myself. Besides, when the idea formed in my mind, it was… accompanied by such an overbearing urgency, that I couldn’t help but comply.”

“Force business?”

Leia shrugged. “I’m not trained, but… I’m Force-sensitive and I don’t know. However, I’m not regretting getting my hands on that building. It does help with Lakrys’ research. Lando commed me before you arrived and according to him Lakrys found something.”

The doctor really had found something, which became clear the moment he burst through their apartment door three hours later with Mara and Lando following behind.

“I can’t believe this! This is the most outrageous thing that I’ve ever seen!” Lakrys exclaimed as he stormed into the living-room and nearly knocked Wedge over who had arrived half hour earlier.

“What happened, Doc?” The Rogue pilot asked.

“The radiation!” Lakrys hissed. “It was a scam!”

Han glanced at the other two while the scientist paced the living-room. Mara stood stock still, her whole body screamed tension. Lando placed himself next to the window and watched the events with an unreadable expression.

“Dr. Lakrys! Please, calm down! You have to explain this to us.” Leia tried to placate the man.

Lakrys managed to calm down enough to be able to communicate properly.

“My apologies, but this is truly outrageous! When I scanned the area with my equipment, I found that the readings were not right.  First, I thought maybe my equipment suffered the effects of being left in my storage, so I did the calibrations again and again, but the readings were still off. Mr. Calrissian asked around and managed to borrow another set of equipment, but the results were still the same. In the end we decided to investigate and Ms. Jade went inside.” Sypet barely said the words out when Han’s and Leia’s outraged cry filled the apartment.

“You did what?”

“I used protective gear.” Mara said with a shrug. “And I’m Force-sensitive. However, none of it was necessary, as it turned out.”

“Because there was no actual radiation!” Lakrys hissed.

Han frowned thinking back the events of the last few months. “But what happened to those droids we sent in there? They were damaged beyond repair.”

“They were, but no because of the radiation. Someone placed a machine in there that messed with the equipment and the droids. We inactivated it when Ms. Jade found it.”

Silence fell upon the group as the information sank in.

“Maybe that was why Zactar didn’t want to give up the building. The machine must have been placed there to hide something.” Leia spoke softly. Her hands fisted in her clothes. Han reached out his hand and gently pried her fingers open. He kept their fingers entangled.

“What happened to the machine?” he asked.

“Melcon is guarding it with Threepio.” Lando spoke finally.

“With Goldenrod? What did that guy do?” Han muttered. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand. There was one more pressing matter.

“Did you find the portal?”

“One more door to go.” Mara replied. He heard the tension clear in her voice. If it were up to her, that one door would have been demolished by now.

“The security lock on that one is extraordinal. We thought maybe Artoo could try something.” Lando looked expectantly at the little droid. Artoo beeped eagerly and rotated his dome.

“So? What are we waiting for?” Leia asked and pulled away from her husband. “We are getting through that door now!”

She left them in the living-room for a minute or two, when she got back, she had her weapon belt on. Lando volunteered to take back the others with his speeder, while Han and Leia went in theirs. Han asked Chewbacca through his commlink to meet up with them at the facility. The tension kept rising in all of them. Even Han started to have an idea what Leia meant by that urgency.

***

Mara kept clutching her own arm as she waited for the little droid to get through the door lock. It had already taken half hour and she knew well that Artoo worked really hard, but after all this time she could barely keep herself in check. There had been this suffocating urgency since the moment she stepped into the restricted area of the facility a week ago. She had taken great risks when she strode into this part of the restricted area, when Lakrys started speaking about fabricated results. She was sure that her argument with Lando shook the whole building. However, she had reached a point where no risk was great enough to stop her.

She glanced around. The others were scattered around in this room. Lando, Wedge, Han and Chewbacca crouched around that certain machine and tried to find out who the builder could have been. Lakrys paced next to Artoo, clearly trying not to disturb the little droid, but still too impatient to move further away. Leia leaned against the wall with a faraway look in her eyes. This was not the first time Organa-Solo zoomed out during her stay in the facility. During the last week Mara had to snap her out of it with a gentle touch on her shoulder, because words were not enough anymore. Leia shrugged off everyone’s worry and continued on like nothing had happened. Like now, as Mara watched, Rys stepped up to the woman and brought her back to the real world with a gentle nudge. Leia nodded at the detective and rubbed her face. Mara chewed her lip as she turned her attention back to Artoo.

 _Hurry_!

It took another half hour though, but suddenly Artoo beeped proudly and the door slowly opened. The men drew their blasters as everyone approached the doorway. She kept her hand over her weapon, but didn’t gett it out of its holster. Her danger-sense didn’t warn of immediate danger.

They stepped inside a huge room that once had been a laboratory. It had been demolished. Metal tables lay here and there mostly overturned. Pieces of different kind of machinery were scattered around. Most of the place looked scorched.

“This…” Lakrys said as he looked around with horror clear on his face. “This is horrible.”

“Yes, but there is no portal.” Mara hissed with anger. She didn’t know what she had expected, but other than the clear sign of an explosion there was nothing there.

Leia walked past her without a word. Mara noticed that the blank look was back on her face as she moved purposefully towards the west side of the place. Solo stepped in front of her and placed his hands onto her shoulders worriedly.

“Leia? What is it? Are you okay?”

His wife blinked her eyes clear and stared up at her husband. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second.

“There is something… It makes me… I have to get to it. I don’t know.”

Mara watched the interaction with a frown. Could it be that Leia was sensing something? She tried to calm herself down and concentrate on the Force. Though she gave up after a moment. She was too wound up and her connection to the Force hadn’t been the same since Luke had disappeared.

“There _is_ something!” Lakrys broke through her thoughts. He held another device of his in his hands. He walked towards the west side of the room, still staring at it. He stopped suddenly and looked up with awe.

“It’s here.”

“Where exactly?” Lando questioned stepping next to the scientist. Mara walked up to them with Solo and Leia. She couldn’t see anything, but something finally touched her mind. She reached her hand out without thinking and watched with bewilderment as her hand disappeared out of sight. She pulled it back quickly and examined it. There was nothing wrong with her limb. Mara looked up into her companions shocked face.

“We found the portal!” She breathed.

That revelation brought an sudden halt to their frantic last month. They stared at the nothing in front of them that was the portal, then at each other.

“Can we go through it?” Wedge asked after who knows how long. He looked as ready as Mara felt, but Lakrys stopped them before they could do anything harsh.

“Not without proper gear.” He carefully pushed his device through the portal, then brought it back after a moment. “Yes. My readings say that the other side has high ozone concentration, the atmosphere is quite different, but no radiation. Maybe with mask that has proper filter, it would be safer.”

Lakrys scratched his chin and hummed quietly. “If I remember correctly, there should be a storage with this kind of equipment in the building.”

“I think I know what you mean.” Rys replied. “I’ll get them!”

With that the tall detective rushed out of the room. The others remained there contemplating their next move. They barely noticed in time as Artoo rolled past them and nearly got through the portal, but Han’s and Wedge’s quick reflexes allowed them to stop him.

“Hey there, buddy! Not yet!” Han mumbled as they herded the little droid away from the portal. Artoo let out a sad and long beep.

“Come to think of it. Where is Goldenrod?”

“Melcon switched him off while we were away.” Lando replied with a snicker. That brightened the tense mood in the room a little, but the smiles drifted away.

Few minutes later Rys rushed back into the room panting a little with four masks in his hands. “That’s all.”

Soon and argument broke out among them, which was all about who would go through and who would stay. Of course, everybody wanted to go, but the four masks drew a short line.

“Enough!” Leia shouted and it was followed by dead silence. She looked around sternly and considered them. She must have reached a conclusion, because she snatched the masks out of Rys’ unresisting hands.

“Han, Chewbacca, Wedge” she listed and handed out the masks. She kept the last one a moment longer, but then held it out to Mara.

The former imperial took the mask tentatively. This was a show of great amount of trust and she didn’t know how to react.

“Thank you.” she said softly.

“One more thing.” Leia opened a small bag on her belt and pulled out an object that Mara recognized immediately. It was Luke’s black lightsaber. Leia handed it over, but it felt wrong in her hand, so she gave it back quickly.

“No, you hold onto that one.”

Leia looked confused for a few seconds, but then pulled the lightsaber close to her chest and gave a little nod back.

“Take care of each other, okay?”

“Nah! It’s us!” Han grinned and kissed his wife.

“That’s why I’m worried.” Mara heard Leia’s murmur as she stepped through the portal.

The lights of the reflectors they placed around the damaged room disappeared and she found herself in suffocating darkness.

“Kriffing hell. I’m going back for something.” She heard Han’s voice.

“No need!” she called out and pried her glowing-rod from her belt. She started it then moved it around so they could examine their surroundings. she felt her heart beating quickening as she looked at the narrow cave in front of her. There was water covering the ground which reached her ankles.

This was it! The cave!

She moved forward as fast she could and ignored Han’s and Wedge’s warning. She searched her mind for that similar presence she remembered oh so well. She didn’t find it, but something wrapped around her mental self and she felt pulled towards.

She probably ripped her jumpsuit when she all but fell over a rock in the water and barely noticed Wedge’s helping hand that pulled her to her feet. She kept going, the men falling behind enough to allow her to lead them.

Soon it became apparent that this cave was way longer than the one from her dreams. However, the pull on her mind was strong enough that she didn’t hesitate when there was a branching in front of them. She chose the cave on the left and moved forward.

Suddenly her danger sense flared up in the same time as Chewbacca let out a warning growl.

“Something is coming!” she hissed through the mask on her face. She hesitated a moment, but decided against switching off her glowing-rod. Whatever was in front of them, it could move in the dark, the lack of light wouldn’t give advantage to them. At least that way they could see the other. She flattened herself against the wall of the cave and felt Han mimic her movements behind her, just like Wedge and Chewbacca on the other side. The three of them drew their blasters, while their wookiee friend chose his physical strength in the tight space

She heard a soft shuffling, then the splash of the water. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. Her danger-sense was screaming at her. Whatever was coming, it was not friendly.  

A familiar squealing sound filled the cave and she felt her blood freeze in her veins. She would recognize that sound anywhere, anytime. Her hand moved on automatic and switched her blaster’s control up to highest setting. Han took a sharp breath behind her.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere the Taen brust into this part of the cave. It looked more out of control than before as it squealed and clawed at the walls. The three of them fired as one at the creature hoping to scare it enough to flee. The monster turned on them though and with an actual roar (which she didn't know where it came from, because as far as she knew this thing didn’t have a mouth) jumped at them. Mara was the closest to it and she had to jump to the side, while Solo backtracked away from the monster. Its claws scratched into the stone behind Mara. The Taen didn’t get another go at her, because it barely turned, when Chewbacca slammed against it. It was terrifying, but still breathtaking as the two brute forces strained against each other. However, Mara kept in mind that the creature was probably Force-sensitive. She had felt that during its short duel with Luke. But Chewbacca used the Taen’s surprise at the sudden challenge and slammed the monster against the opposite wall with a deafening roar. The Taen squealed, but didn’t attack them again. It jumped past them an disappeared in the darkness of the cave.

“Good job, pal!” Han praised his wookiee friend.

Antilles, always the most thoughtful asked the real question.

“It won’t go back, right? Through the portal, I mean.”

“It hadn’t come back since Luke…” Mara trailed off. “It felt weaker…”

“Let’s just hurry up.” Han muttered glancing at the darkness where the thing disappeared.

Mara didn’t have to concentrate much to get back on track. The pull was weighting down on her more pressing than ever. She mused for a second how the others didn’t even question if their search had a point. Her certainty seemed to be giving them hope that none of them dared to acknowledge yet.

She pressed forward again. They encountered more intersections on their way. She took one last turn and the cave narrowed in front of them even more. The darkness was even more suffocating, her glowing-rod didn't seem to be able to combat it. She stumbled against the wall which became even more uneven, but as she looked up through the few locks that escaped her braid she saw something in front of her. There was a faint light ahead. She knew she had to get there.

Mara pushed herself away from the wall and staggered forward. She all but crawled the last few meters to the opening. She barely noticed as her hands and clothes ended up covered in that strange substance, which belonged to the Taen.

She burst into the familiar chamber through the web of the unknown substance. Her eyes searched around frantically, till they found that flat piece of stone she had seen in her dreams.

“Luke!” She called out and heard the tears in her own voice. It seemed irrelevant, because there he was, laying unmoving on that slab, looking dead. She found herself next to the man in a second, not even remembering moving. The Force tried to tell something to her through the gasps of her companions, but she could concentrate enough. She leaned her head onto the man’s chest and closed her eyes. She prayed.

“Is he…?” Wedge’s tentative voice cut through the silence.

She raised her head and felt the tears that found their way down on her cheek. Hysterical laughter threatened to bubble out of her, but something else, words left her lips.

“He is alive!” she whispered with shaking voice. “He survived. He is still alive!”

That broke through whatever emotion kept Solo away and he rushed to them. He placed a gentle hand onto his brother-in-law’s face and murmured reassurance to the Jedi with gruff voice. Wedge and Chewbacca joined them, the pilot taking of his own mask and placing it onto Luke’s face. Another wave of relief came as a tiny steam clouded the transparent part of the mask. Chewbacca offered his own mask to the pilot, but Antilles refused.

“We have to get him back. He needs medical help.” he said.

Han turned to his wookiee friend, his hazel eyes not so clear anymore. “Can you carry him?”

Chewbacca gave a firm nod and gently raised the unconscious Jedi up into his arms. They just had to get back and everything would be fine.                                   

***

Leia sat on the ground next to Artoo and stared at the place where her husband and the others disappeared. The little droid managed to calm down after a near nervous breakdown, when he wasn’t allowed to go through the portal. Only Leia managed to placate him somewhat. Rys talked softly with Lakrys somewhere further away from her.

“Can I ask you something?” Lando lowered himself down next to her.

“Why didn’t I allow you to go?” she asked back.

Lando chuckled softly, but shook his head. “No. What I wanted to ask why didn’t you go?”

Leia considered her reply a little. Her memory of the horrors of Jabba’s lair flashed in front of her inner eyes. “I think she loves him.” a smiled curled her lips “You don’t get into the way of a woman who wants to save the man she loves.”

“I thought that you didn’t like her.” Lando questioned.

“No, I didn’t. But it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the fact that Luke chose her.” she sighed sadly and patted Artoo’s dome. “It was hard for me to accept that.”

“Yeah.” Lando said gently and pulled her against his side.

She didn’t know how long they stayed that way, but a sudden squeal made them jump to their feet.

“You got to be kidding me!” Rys breathed, his face suddenly white.

Lando stepped in front of Leia and drew his blaster. “Get out of here! Take the doc with you! Melcon and I buy you time!”

Rys drew his blaster too and stepped next to Calrissian. His hands shook a little.

“Sypet! Get outside and call for help! The commlink I gave to you has General Madine's frequencies. Go!” she pushed a man, who after one tentative step ran out of the room.

“Leia!” Lando hissed at her, but she shook her head.

“My husband is still … on the other side. I’m not going anywhere!”. She reached for her blaster, but her fingers brushed against Luke’s lightsaber that she had clipped onto her belt. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt and pulled it free. Could she?

Another squeal filled the room and a clawed hand appeared through the portal. It was followed by the whole monster of her nightmares. She noticed that it was pulling its right leg and there were several claw marks on its body. Was it Chewbacca?

She barely thought this through, the monster was already attacking. It went straight for Lando and pushed the man onto the ground, before he could fire his blaster and clawed at him. Rys kicked at the head of the monster in hopes of getting his attention away from the fallen man. It did get the Taen’s attention long enough for Lando to shoot at it from close enough for it to hurt. The Taen’s claws wrapped around the dark skinned man’s throat and with a crazed squeal, it slammed Lando against Melcon.

Red hot fury filled Leia as she gazed at the monster. This was the thing that took her brother from her. It had to be destroyed! Her finger ignited the lightsaber on its own accord. A terrifying power answered her anger and she welcomed it. A battle cry broke free from her lips and she rushed at the beast with the lightsaber. The Taen must have been surprised by her attack, because it jumped back away from the men and squealed at her. She slashed towards it with the saber, but the creature was fast. However, her body was controlled by something else, other than her mind, the steps and moves done perfectly. The Taen clawed at her and she moved out of the way in the last second, only her braid had been damaged. Her hair broke free and flew around her as she attacked at the limb that came too close to her. She watched with sick satisfaction as the right arm of the beast fell to the ground.

The Taen screamed at her and the same power that pressed her forward till that moment turned on her. She held up the lightsaber and strained against the power that tried to crush her. She reached for her anger again and pushed back. They seemed to be equal in the need of destroying the other. She felt her knees shake under the pressure and she knew she couldn’t hold on much longer.

Suddenly, pair of hands wrapped around the lightsaber around hers, then another pair. Lando and Rys tried to help out physically holding against the invisible power that surrounded the Taen. It helped too, but the meaning of their actions even more. A sudden understanding of the situation pushed Leia’s anger away and was replaced by another emotion.

The need to protect.

She concentrated on that and the power, the Force replied differently. She pushed against the dark energy of the Taen and the lightsaber moved forward. The presence of Lando and Rys doubled her energy and the three of them sliced through the monster.

The Taen’s body fell to the ground and no noise came out of it. Leia felt its dark presence blink out. The lightsaber slipped from her hands and fell to the ground as her friends let go of it too. She sank to her knees, then slumped onto the ground. Next to her the two men joined her on the floor. Lando panted as his shaking hand covered the bleeding wound on his chest, while Rys lay down onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

“I don’t know what we did. Don’t even want to know what we did. But I’m glad it worked.”

Leia just sat there staring at the corpse of the monster. _What had she done?_

“Leia?” her head snapped up at the sound of her husband’s voice. He was in front of her in a second cradling her face with his hands. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Did you…” she forced through her dry throat. “Did you find Luke?”

"Yes!"

“Is he…?”

“Alive? Yes, he is alive!” Han smiled. He allowed her to push past him. Her eyes landed on her brother unconscious form in Chewbacca’s arms and her vision blurred. Her sobs broke to the surface as Han’s arm wrapped around her protectively.

***

His family was a mess. Han decided as he sank down into a chair in the VIP section’s private waiting room. Madine, who had arrived with his men few minutes after their family’s reunion, had ordered them to be rushed to the Med-center. Dr. Norella Paklar’s astonishment had been clear on her face when she had seen who her patient was. However, her professionalism had taken over and rushed away with Luke and her army of levitating med-droids. One of her colleagues had taken Leia gently by the arm and lead her into another room. Lando had allowed a 2-1B droid to take a look at his wound, so he disappeared too. Melcon had stayed at the scene with Madine to help out with the clearing up. Han didn’t have a clue where Chewbacca and Wedge had gone to and Mara….

She just stepped in front of him with a cup of hot caf in each hand. He took the offered cup and mumbled a thank you. Mara lowered herself down into one of the chairs and sipped her own caf.

“Any news?” she asked after a while.

“Nope.” Han sighed and rubbed his face. Man, he needed to shave! In the near future if possible.

“Can I ask you something?” he questioned.

“Hmmm?”

“Do you… sense something? Will he be alright?”

Mara lowered her cup and frowned at the dark liquid inside it. “I can’t tell. I’m… not that good. But this is Luke. If anyone can bounce back from that, he would.”

He nodded in understanding and the two of them sank back into silence again.

Later they found out that Lando needed a short trip into a bacta tank, but he would be as good as new in the morning. It turned out that Leia was physically well, but shaken, exhausted and malnourished. The other doctor whose name Han forgot the minute he said it gave a mild sedative to his wife and she was sleeping peacefully in one of the rooms. However, there was no news on Luke. Wedge and Chewbacca joined them after a while.

Dr. Packlar walked into the waiting area close to midnight with a tired face, but a gentle smile on her lips.

"Well, I've never met something like this before, but I think he is not in critical condition." She said carefully, when  they all but attacked her with questions. "We didn't put him into a bacta-tank, but if his state worsen, than maybe we would. However, we found some fluid in his lungs with tissue damage, so he is on the ventilator now and we added some bacta-spray just to be sure. Other than that... we didn't find more wounds or damage. I heard things about Jedi trance and... maybe that's why he never regained consciousness. We will monitor him closely, but I'm afraid from now on it's a waiting game."

"Can we see him?" Mara asked.

Norella sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Can I stop you?"

"Not likely!" Han grinned.

In the end Packlar told them where Luke's room was and left them to watch over their newly found family member. Luke was thinner and paler than ever, Han noted as he stepped next to the bed. The breathing tube looked disturbing and he hoped that Luke's legendary healing abilities would kick in quickly and they could get ride of it. Other than the small rise and fall of his chest, Luke was completely still.

After the events of the facility, the days rolled by slowly. Leia joined them in Luke's room the next morning and didn't plan to leave. Packlar arranged another bed into the room knowing well that her arguments fell upon deaf ears. Mon Mothma visited them that day. She was overjoyed to find out that Luke was alive, but promised Leia that she wouldn't share this information with the public just yet. Karrde came too bringing news of the holo-disk and offering his help. However, no one could do anything till the Jedi didn't decide to join the living. Packlar removed the breathing tube on the fourth day and assured them that Luke's lungs were healing well. And the waiting game continued.

***

Rejoining the world was an awful experience. He would have made a list of things that were not functioning well, but the inability of thinking would have been the first on his list. So, what was he thinking about again? Never mind. He allowed himself to drift a little bit more. Patience...

After a while he tried it again. He concentrated on his body. There was no pain that could ground him, but he felt something heavy on his hands. That would have to do. It felt like swimming to the surface. He was lucky that Han had taught him how to swim. Useful. He imagined himself swimming through the darkness towards the light of the real world. The surface was not that far. Just had to get through...

He blinked blurry eyes open. Whoa! That was awful. He closed them back. Don't fall back to sleep! He opened them again and after few blinks, his vision cleared somewhat and that awful stinging lessened too. Now, where was he? He tentatively reached out to the Force. His memories were still hazy, but for a reason he associated pain with the Force. This time though no pain came, but the healing energy reached back for him and wrapped around his body.He allowed his senses to expand and noted with a start that he wasn't alone. In fact, there was several other sentient beings with him. It took some effort, but he managed to look around. Leia and Mara were both sleeping on _his_ bed on either side of him. So, that was the heavy feeling on his hands. Wait a minute! Didn't they hate each other? He decided that thinking was way too much effort and continued his examination of the room. Medical room, he noted when his eyes fell upon the monitors around him. His movements were restrained by that something that got him to the med-center and by the two women that were in _his_ bed. All that meant he couldn't sit up, so the only way to check was through the Force. Closing his eyes, he located Han. Lying on the ground. Next to his bed. _What_? Wedge was with them too. The pilot occupied the other bed. At least his back wouldn't hurt like the other Corellian's. Chewbacca was near too. He concentrated a little bit more and... yeah... sleeping on the ground too, next to the door. _Now, come on! What' s with his friends and this aversion of normal beds?_

A soft beeping broke through his confused thoughts. He glanced up again and caught sight of Artoo over Mara's shoulder.

"Hey!" he tried to whisper to the little droid, but his throat was so dry and sore, that no voice left his lips. However, Artoo erupted into a chaotic beeping tornado and everyone in the room shot upright. At least who could, Luke thought as he watched how Han shot upright then fell back onto the ground with a loud 'Ow,ow,ow!'. Leia was the first one who noticed that he was awake. Her dark eyes met with his and widened.

"Luke?" she asked with shaking voice. He would have loved to reply with actual voice, but as it turned out wasn't an option, so he just smiled as widely as his parched lips allowed.

"Luke!" she repeated and slammed herself back at him. He didn't manage the same 'Ow,ow,ow!' as Han, but a sound did get past the blockade that was his throat.

"Hey, kid! You back with us finally?" he heard Han's gruff voice. He raised his left hand that wasn't crashed by Leia and gave the man a thumb up. That was all he could manage. His eyes searched for Mara's and the open emotion that he found in them startled him even more than this whole situation. Someone ruffled his hair, a quick glance proved that it was Wedge. Chewbacca was towering over the others growling happily. Luke really hoped that his wookiee friend would ease up with the crushing hugs now. Though first someone should get Leia off him. Not that he mind. He loved his twin.

Few minutes later Dr. Packlar came to his rescue and herded his reluctant family out of the room. His relief was short lived, because the woman had several examinations up in her sleeve....

***

After being ushered out of Luke's room Han was approached by Wedge.

"Can I have a word with you?"

"Yeah." Han nodded at Chewbacca than at Leia. The wookiee growled back with understanding and moved closer to his wife. Han followed Wedge through the maze of the med-center's corridors.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to show you something." Wedge replied with the grin and continued to walk.

Han reached out and grabbed the other man's arm effectively stopping him. "Wedge. During this whole fiasco. I know what you were doing and... Thank you. It means a lot." he said with a gruff voice. Damn, X-wing pilots making him so emotional!

Wedge squeezed Han's arm and grinned at the man. "The Rogues take care of each other and their families. And whatever he is doing, wherever he is, Luke will always be a Rogue. Now come on! I still want to show you something."

Han followed Wedge, who led him to the private waiting area and he froze to the spot as he saw what was inside. Or who was inside. The whole Rogue Squadron was there standing in a circle and in Wes arms... It was Ben.

"Wes! You will drop him!" Klivian followed every move that Wes made with a worried frown on his face. The dark haired man swung the kid around carefully (it didn't look careful, but it _was_ careful!) and got hysterical laughter out of the little child.

"It's okay Hobbie! You just worry too much!" his dark eyes found Han. "Hey, Solo! Surprise!"

"Thanks the Force!" Klivian sighed. "Get the kid away from him!"

Han uttered a not so manly 'Ben' and rushed to Wes and all but ripped the child out of his hands. He hugged the kid to himself with such a tender care that it surprised even the Rogues, who had seen him with his child already.

"Now you are welcome, Solo!" Wedge grinned.  

***

He was a medical miracle as it turned out. Two days had passed since he woke up from his week long coma. At least that was the amount of time he had spent in the med-center since his rescue. What happened before that during his stay on the other side of the portal? No one knows. He was shocked when the others told him what had happened after his fight with the Taen (what kind of name is that?). It was disturbing to think that his funeral had been held. He felt way better physically though. He tired out easily, because of the weakness of his unused muscles and his battered lungs, plus his voice was no more than a whisper, but everything else felt fine. So, he didn't understand why they didn't allow him out of the med-center.

That was not the only annoying thing though. His family and friends fussed over him constantly. It was like being surrounded by a group of mother-hens. There was someone with him all the time. For example Artoo never left his side. There was an awkward incident with the fresher, when the little droid picked the lock and followed him inside too. His face still flushed when he thought about it.

He sat crossed legged on the bed in his med-center room with a datapad. He went through all the things Rys, Karrde, Lakrys and Madine collected about the Taen-case (he still frowned at the name). The holo-disk that was handed to the Senate by Karrde proved that Serx ordered corellian soldiers to capture and break in the ... Taen... According to the reports twenty of them died during these attempts. Everything had been recorded and it was used by Zonlain to examine the creature. That plus Han's recordings of their meeting on Corellia meant treason. There was no bright future for Serx. Zactar denied any connection to his right-hand man's action and there was still no evidence against him. The senator didn't even know about the portal based on his own confessions.

Luke sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His intuitions said otherwise, but he had no evidence. That was the core of their problem.

"You should be resting."

He looked up and smiled at his twin, who walked into the room and sat down onto the bed next to him.

"I'm bored out of my mind." he whispered back.

Leia leaned against him and placed her head onto his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and waited. Their connection was still closed off, but he felt her dark mood through the Force.

"I've given up on you." she mumbled after a while.

"I think that's understandable." he replied still very quietly.

"No. Mara, Wedge and Han, they kept hoping. They kept searching. But I gave up so easily." she shifted closer. "And when I found out about Rys' forced leave, I became so angry and I loved it. Chasing revenge gave me purpose and energy. And when the Taen attacked Lando, I embraced that anger. I fought like someone trained. I knew what to do. I used your lightsaber to kill." she trailed off.

"But you overcame it, right? You said that you reached for the Light Side in the last minute. You chose and you chose well!"

She pulled away abruptly. "I still crave it! You have to promise me that you won't train me! I can't become the next Vader!"

"Leia," he started, but she cut him off.

"Please! Promise me!"

Sighing he pulled her into a tight embrace. "I promise. But you have to know that whatever happens, I love you and I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"

"You have to take care of yourself better in that case." she mumbled into his neck. He chuckled at her, but it turned into a gasp as he unconsciously reached for her through their closed bond and ripped it open. It righted itself back to its formal balance. They stayed wrapped around each other for a long time allowing their emotions to flew back and forth through the Force bond.

"I missed that." Leia whispered after a while.

"I'm sorry." he replied. When she looked up at him questioning he continued. "You remember, I told you about my connection to the Taen. When I broke it, I must have broken ours too."

A loud commotion disturbed their silent moment and they moved away from each other reluctantly. As the noise got closer they recognized Han's as the loudest one. The door flew open and the Corellian stepped inside and turned towards the others who followed him. He effectively blocked the doorway.

"It's not his problem! Leave him alone!" Han hissed angrily.

"I think this is _his_ problem!" The twins heard Madine's voice. "We need his help!"

"No! You _want_ his help! There is a difference here!"

Luke couldn't whisper loudly enough to end the argument, so he asked her sister for help. Leia grimaced, but nodded.

"Han! Allowed them in!" she ordered.

Han spun around with a stern expression. "Luke needs to rest and not ... get involved. We'll deal with this!"

Luke crossed his arm and visibly pouted at his brother-in-law.

"This is for your own good!" Han pointed a finger at him, but kept his attention on the sneaky General who tried to slip past him.

"Han, let them in!" Leia repeated herself. "Or you sleep on the couch tonight."

"I'm protecting your brother!" he cried in disbelief.

"Han!"

Grumbling, the ex-smuggler moved out of the way and allowed a pretty big group of people to enter the room. Mon Mothma, Rieekan, Ackbar, Madine, Wedge, Lando and Melcon stepped inside.

"Thank you for your time, Luke!" Mon Mothma said gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Bored." Luke whispered and ignored Han's snort. "What happened?"

"You have to see it yourself." Madine walked to the bed and handed him a datapad. There was a holo on it and Luke started it. Leia leaned over his shoulder to watch it. The recording showed Icys Serx sitting in his prison cell. The door slipped open and a tall, cloaked man stepped inside. He had his back to the camera, so they couldn't see his face. Serx stood up and after a short talk, saluted at the man. The new comer ignited a lightsaber and stabbed the man with it. The blade went through his heart. He shut down the saber and with sharp turn, left the cell and the dead man behind.

Luke looked up at the group of people in his room with a frown. "It was a red saber."

"Yes."

"Did anyone see his/her face?" he asked.

"No. That's the only recording of him." Medine replied. "Serx's men are dead too."

Luke scratched his chin. "I need to check the prison cell. Maybe I could sense something."

"No!" Han said sternly. "Mara checked it already. You stay here and get better!"

"Han! I'm better!"

"Yeah, that's why you still can't talk properly?"

Luke glared daggers at his brother-in-law, but Han had always been good at ignoring those. In the end he agreed with the others to check out the cell when he was officially cleared for duty. Though, Luke feared that it would be way too late for him to help.

***

He had been right. He was released from the med-center three days later. He had to spend one more at home and only was allowed to check out the holding cell on the next day. He still felt the lingering evil there, but there was no trail to follow. He meditated there hoping for a vision, but no help came through the Force. The Government couldn't build a security blockade around the planet, because they had no clue who they were searching for. They ran into a dead end with no alternative.

Mara took him home. They had to use the secret door to the apartment building to avoid the reporters that gather in front of their home. His coming back to life was a huge screamer. He had already given an open interview, but it didn't seem to be enough for the media. Luke was just glad that they weren't allowed into the building.

He was exhausted by the time they entered his apartment. The cleaning droids got ride of the dust that gathered while he was away and cleaned up the apartment.

"Need something?" Mara asked after throwing her jacket onto the hanger.

"Chocolate!" he mumbled into the cushions of the couch onto which he had collapsed. He heard her chuckling, but she disappeared into the kitchen. His mind was racing around the fact that it looked like there was a Dark Jedi killing people in the Galaxy. It was his responsibility to prevent that.

"Serx knew him." he said, when Mara returned with two mugs in hand. A hot chocolate and a caf. He accepted his and turned onto his back. "We have to focus on Serx's associates."

"Luke," she sighed. "You need to rest. I told you. Karrde is looking into this. He will notify us if he finds something."

"I need to meditate." He said instead of agreeing. He wanted to put down his mug, but Mara forced it back into his hand.

"I made this for you, you better drink it before it's ruined!" she huffed clearly annoyed.

He drank it with an apologetic smile. However, the second he finished it, he was down on his carpet with crossed legs.

"Now, I'm gonna meditate!" he announced.

"Very hot." Mara said sarcastically.

"Hey! You should try doing it sometimes. It might help you connect to the Force!"

She ignored him and disappeared in the bathroom.

Luke closed his eyes and pulled the Force in. He felt the presence of other sentient beings around him. He located Mara, then Winter and Ben in the opposite apartment. He searched a bit more and found Han with Rieekan, Leia with Mon Mothma, Wedge and the Rogues together with Ackbar. He tried to search for a dark presence, but it was impossible to pin-point one. That was the curse and the miracle of Coruscant. There was such a variety of humans and aliens that it always awed him.

Something tugged at his mind and he allowed it in. The vision showed him two children huddled together. One of them was a pre-teen shistavanen, the other one was a human toddler. The shistavaven turned towards him with frightened eyes and reached out for him. He moved his own hand to reach back, but the vision ended and he found himself back in his apartment. With Mara standing over him. Holding a tray. Ready to hit.

"What?" he cried and jumped back a little.

Mara lowered the tray and actually looked sheepish. "You were meditating over an hour now. I tried to pull you back, but nothing worked. That was my last resort. I'm not risking this, who knows, you could accidentally connect with another Taen or something."

"Force, I hate that name!" he mumbled and rose to his feet. He walked to his computer in his work-room and pulled the map of the Galaxy forward.

"Did you find out something about the Dark Jedi?" Mara asked as she followed him.

"No... But two kids need my help." He closed his eyes and allowed the Force to guide his fingers. When he opened them again, he was looking at the chosen planet.

"Zigoola? Really? You do know that it's a Sith planet, right?" Mara hissed. 

Luke huffed. "Yeah. I read about it in Ben's notes. Though I don't have much choice."

"Good luck telling that to Solo!" Mara grinned. 

He couldn't help but groan. Han had always been overprotective, but since he had become a father and after the event of the last months he was even worse. 

"Well, we might just forget to mention this tiny information." 

"You really think they will let you go?"

"Never tell me the odds!" he grinned as he he studied the map. "One more thing. I got two names. Maybe you could ask Karrde about them. They are Hakdec and Poe."

***

Talvir Zactar watched the traffic of Coronet City through the window of his luxurious apartment. His dark mood surrounded him and even the beauty of Corellia couldn't lighten it. His plan had failed. He blamed it all on that damn Jedi. Skywalker's death should have been the last push against the fragile New Republic and it would have crumbled. Then there wouldn't have been anything to stop him becoming the next Emperor.But no, Skywalker couldn't do one tiny thing he was supposed to, to die. His sister was no better, though. Organa-Solo's sudden interest in the research facility just made matters worse and she managed to turn the Senate against him.

He took a deep breath and sipped from the expensive whisky he held in his hand. It was a set back, but not a defeat. He decided. Palpatine didn't become the Emperor overnight either. (Well, he did, but that was not the point). Zactar had to change his plans, but with time he would win. All he needed was some time.

"Senator." he heard the gravely voice from behind him. He turned and gazed at the dark figure in front of him.

"Darth Ianre. Have you been successful?" he asked.

"I took care of the weak link." the dark figure replied.

"Very well." Zactar nodded and turned to his holo-projector that was playing the Coruscant News. It was a pity that he had to eliminate Serx, but his righthand-man failed and became a weak link. The news replayed the miraculous return of Jedi. He watched the fragile man speak to the reporters with a kind expression. Zactar smiled to himself. Skywalker was the key to the destruction of the New Republic and he had a new idea how he would accomplish it.

The End For Now    

                                  


End file.
